•M  Hill 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


rt 


^ix — >. 


THE 


AMERICAN   LOYALISTS, 


OR 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OP  ADHERENTS  TO  THE  BRITISH 
CROWN  IN 

THE  WAR,  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


THE 


AMERICAN    LOYALISTS, 


OR 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

OF  ADHERENTS  TO  THE  BRITISH  CROWN  IN 

THE  WAR  OF  THE   REVOLUTION; 

ALPHABETICALLY   ARRANGED; 

WITH    A 

PRELIMINARY  HISTORICAL  ESSAY. 


BY  LORENZO  SABINE. 


BOSTON: 
CHARLES  C.  LITTLE  AND  JAMES   BROWN. 


MDCCCXLVII. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847,  by 

CHARLES  C.  LITTLE  AND  JAMES  BROWN, 
in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts, 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  THURSTON,  TORRY  AND  CO. 
31  Devonshire  Street. 


PREFACE. 


OF  the  reasons  which  influenced,  of  the  hopes  and  fears  which 
agitated,  and  of  the  miseries  and  rewards  which  awaited  the  Loyal 
ists — or,  as  they  were  called  in  the  politics  of  the  time,  the  Tories  — 
of  the  American  Revolution,  but  little  is  known.  The  most  intelli 
gent,  the  best  informed  among  us,  confess  the  deficiency  of  their 
knowledge.  The  reason  is  obvious.  Men  who,  like  the  Loyalists, 
separate  themselves  from  their  friends  and  kindred,  who  are  driven 
from  their  homes,  who  surrender  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  life, 
and  who  become  outlaws,  wanderers,  and  exiles,  —  such  men,  leave 
few  memorials  behind  them.  Their  papers  are  scattered  and  lost, 
and  their  very  names  pass  from  human  recollection. 

Hence,  the  most  thorough  and  pains-taking  inquirers  into  their 
history,  have  hardly  been  rewarded  for  the  time  and  attention  which 
they  have  bestowed.  Were  there  books  materially  to  aid  such  labor 
ers,  greater  success  would  have  attended  their  researches.  But  the 
third  volume  of  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts,  the  Life  of 
Peter  Van  Shaack,  the  Journal  and  Letters  of  Samuel  Curwen,  and 
Simcoe's  Journal  of  The  Operations  of  the  Loyalist  Corps  called  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  comprise,  I  believe,  all  the  published  works,  which 
afford  any  considerable  information  of  those  of  our  countrymen  who 
adhered  to  the  mother  country  in  the  momentous  struggle  which  re 
sulted  in  making  us  a  free  people. 

My  own  pretensions  are  extremely  limited.  Yet,  as  my  home, 
from  early  manhood,  has  been  on  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  Union, 


13843336 


IV  PREFACE. 

where  the  graves  and  the  children  of  the  Loyalists  are  around  me  in 
every  direction  ;  as  I  have  enjoyed  free  and  continual  intercourse 
with  persons  of  Loyalist  descent ;  as  I  have  had  the  use  of  family 
papers,  and  of  rare  documents ;  as  I  have  devoted  years  to  the  sub 
ject,  and  have  made  journeys  to  confer  with  the  living,  and  pilgrim 
ages  to  graveyards,  in  order  to  complete  the  records  of  the  dead  ;  — 
I  may  venture  to  say,  that  the  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES,  which  are 
contained  in  this  volume,  will  add  something  to  the  stock  of  know 
ledge  obtained  by  previous  gleaners  in  this  interesting  branch  of  our 
revolutionary  annals. 

Still,  I  have  to  remark,  that  I  have  repeatedly  been  ready  to 
abandon  the  pursuit  in  despair.  For,  to  weave  into  correct  and  con 
tinuous  narratives,* the  occasional  allusions  of  books  and  State-papers; 
to  join  together  fragmentary  events  and  incidents  ;  to  distinguish  per 
sons  of  the  same  surname  or  family  name,  when  only  that  name  is 
mentioned  ;  and  to  reconcile  the  disagreements  of  various  epistolary 
and  verbal  communications  ;  has  seemed,  at  times,  utterly  impossible. 
There  are  some  who  can  fully  appreciate  these,  and  other  difficulties, 
which  beset  the  task,  and  who  will  readily  understand  why  many  of 
the  NOTICES  are  meagre,  and  why,  too,  it  is  possible  for  others  to  be 
in  one  or  more  particulars  inaccurate.  Indeed,  I  may  appeal  to  the 
closest  students  of  our  history,  as  my  best  witnesses,  to  prove  that 
entire,  correctness,  and  fullness  of  detail,  in  tracing  the  course,  and 
in  ascertaining  the  fate,  of  the  adherents  of  the  Crown,  are  not  now 
within  the  power  of  the  most  careful  and  industrious. 

Of  several  of  the  Loyalists  who  were  high  in  office,  of  others  who 
were  men  of  talents  and  acquirements,  and  of  still  others  who  were 
of  less  consideration,  I  have  been  able,  after  long  and  extensive  re 
searches,  to  learn  scarcely  more  than  their  names,  or  the  single  fact, 
that  for  their  political  opinions  or  offences  they  were  proscribed  and 
banished.  But  I  have  deemed  it  best  to  exclude  no  one,  whether  of 
exalted  or  humble  station,  of  whose  attachment  to  the  cause  of  the 
mother  country  I  have  found  satisfactory,  or  even  reasonable  evi 
dence.  In  following  out  this  plan,  repetition  of  the  same  facts,  as 
applicable  to  different  persons,  has  been  unavoidable.  That  I  have 
sometimes  erred,  by  including  among  the  Tories  a  few  who  finally 
became  Whigs,  is  very  probable.  To  change  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  both  during  the  controversy  which  preceded  the  shedding  of 


PREFACE.  V 

blood,  and  at  various  periods  of  the  war,  was  not  uncommon;  and  I 
have  been  struck,  in  the  course  of  my  investigations,  with  the  absence 
of  fixed  principles,  not  only  among  people  in  the  common  walks  of 
life,  but  in  many  of  the  prominent  personages  of  the  day. 

For  the  present,  my  efforts  to  supply  the  deficiencies,  and  remove 
the  imperfections  of  this  work,  as  now  submitted  to  the  public,  will 
be  incessant.  I  desire  to  learn,  and  to  communicate  to  my  country 
men,  all  that  can  be  ascertained  of  the  losers  in  the  revolutionary 
strife.  But  whether  journeys  to  remote  places,  and  visits  to  distant 
public  archives,  are  to  be  undertaken,  in  search  of  additional  ma 
terials,  to  correct,  improve,  and  enlarge  these  NOTICES,  will  depend 
almost  entirely  upon  the  degree  of  favor  which  is  extended  to  them 
in  their  present  form. 

These  brief  explanations  will  suffice.  The  reader  will  find  in  the 
Preliminary  Remarks,  or  Historical  Essay,  that  follows,  a  general 
view  of  the  state  of  parties,  and  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  struggle  ;  which,  it  is  hoped,  contains  thoughts 
not  only  new,  but  truthful  and  just  to  all  persons  to  whom  they  relate. 
It  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  some  parts  of  it  are  borrowed  from 
my  own  contributions  to  the  North  American  Review. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  acknowledge  the  benefit  derived  from  refer 
ence  to  the  four  publications  mentioned  in  this  Preface.  To  Curwen, 
and  the  biographical  and  historical  matter  added  to  his  Letters  and 
Journal  by  his  diligent  and  accomplished  editor,  I  am  particularly 
indebted.  Nor  should  I  neglect  to  render  my  thanks  to  the  literary 
friends  who  have  cheered  me  with  their  sympathy  and  advice  amid 
the  discouragements  of  my  task ;  and  to  the  descendants  of  Loyal 
ists,  who  have  afforded  essential  aid  by  lending  me  family  and  other 
papers. 

EASTPORT,  MAINE,  MAY,  1847. 


tix 
l,J  (/  j 

yeut 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS, 


OR 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY. 


SOME  account  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies,  and  of  the  state  of 
Political  Parties  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  may 
form  a  very  proper  Introduction  to  the  Biographical  Notices  of 
some  of  those,  who,  born  and  educated  Colonists,  preferred  to 
live  and  die  in  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown. 

The  thoughts  and  deductions,  which  I  shall  present,  are 
essentially  my  own,  and  I  shall  address  the  reader  directly 
and  without  reserve.  Many  things  which  are  necessary  to  a 
right  understanding  of  the  revolutionary  controversy,  have 
been,  as  I  conceive,  wholly  omitted,  or  only  partially  and 
obscurely  stated.  It  has  been  common,  for  example,  to  insist 
that  questions  of  "Taxation,"  that  points  of  " Abstract  Lib 
erty,"  produced  the  momentous  struggle,  which  resulted  in 
dismembering  the  British  empire.  To  me,  the  documentary 
history,  the  state-papers  of  the  period,  teach  nothing  more 
clearly  than  this,  namely,  that  almost  every  matter  brought 
into  discussion  was  practical,  and  in  some  form  or  other  re 
lated  to  LABOR,  to  some  branch  of  COMMON  INDUSTRY.  Our 
fathers  did  indeed,  in  their  appeals  to  the  people,  embody  their 
opposition  to  the  Colonial  System,  or  form  of  government,  in 
one  expressive  term  —  "  Taxation"  —  "  Taxation  without 
1 


2  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

Representation."  But  whoever  has  examined  the  acts  of 
Parliament  which  were  resisted,  has  found  that  nearly  all  of 
them  inhibited  Labor.  There  were  no  less  than  twenty-nine 
laws,  which  restricted  and  bound  down  Colonial  industry. 
Neither  of  these  laws  touched  so  much  as  the  "south-west 
side  of  a  hair"  of  an  "  abstraction,"  and  hardly  one  of  them, 
until  the  passage  of  the  "  Stamp  Act,"  imposed  a  direct  "Tax." 
They  were  aimed  at  the  North,  and  England  lost  the  affection 
of  the  mercantile  and  maritime  classes  of  the  northern  Colo 
nies,  full  a  generation  before  she  alienated  the  South.  They 
forbade  the  use  of  water-falls,  the  erecting  of  machinery,  of 
looms  and  spindles,  and  the  working  of  wood  and  iron ;  they 
set  the  king's  arrow  upon  trees  that  rotted  in  the  forest;  they 
shut  out  markets  for  boards  and  fish,  and  seized  sugar  and 
molasses,  and  the  vessels  in  which  these  articles  were  carried ; 
and  they  defined  the  limitless  ocean  as  but  a  narrow  pathway 
to  such  of  the  lands  that  it  embosoms  as  wore  the  British  flag. 
To  me,  then,  the  great  object  of  the  Revolution  was  to  release 
LABOR  from  these  restrictions.  .Free-laborers  —  inexcusable  in 
this  —  began  with  sacking  houses,  overturning  public  offices, 
and  emptying  tar-barrels  and  pillow-cases  upon  the  heads  of 
those  who  were  employed  to  enforce  these  oppressive  acts  of 
Parliament ;  and  when  the  skill  and  high  intellect  which  were 
enlisted  in  their  cause,  and  which  vainly  strove  to  moderate 
their  excess,  failed  to  obtain  a  peaceable  redress  of  the  wrongs 
of  which  they  complained,  and  were  driven  either  to  abandon 
the  end  in  view,  or  to  combine  and  wield  their  strength,  men 
of  all  avocations  rallied  upon  the  field,  and  embarked  upon 
the  sea,  to  retire  from  neither  until  the  very  framework  of  the 
Colonial  system  was  torn  away,  and  every  branch  of  indus 
try  could  be  pursued  without  fines,  penalties,  and  imprison 
ment. 

Such  are  the  opinions,  at  least,  which  I  have  formed  on  the 
questions  upon  which,  among  the  mass  of  the  people,  the  con 
test  hinged ;  which  finally  united  persons  of  every  employ 
ment  in  life  in  an  endeavor  to  get  rid  of  prohibitions,  that 
remonstrance  could  not  repeal,  or  even  humanize.  For  a 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  3 

higher  or  holier  purpose  than  this,  men  have  never  expended 
their  money,  or  poured  out  their  life-blood  in  battle  ! 

Leaving  here  this  course  of  general  remark,  I  propose  to 
take  a  view  of  the  revolutionary  controversy,  and  of  the  state 
of  parties,  in  each  Colony  separately  and  in  course.  And  first 
in  Massachusetts'  Colony  of  Maine.  Of  the  immense  domains, 
embracing  almost  the  half  of  our  continent,  which,  in  1620, 
King  James  conferred  upon  those  gentlemen  of  his  court  who, 
in  popular  language,  are  known  as  the  "  Council  of  Plymouth," 
Maine  formed  a  part.  Among  the  most  distinguished  mem 
bers  of  this  Council  was  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges ;  to  whom, 
and  to  John  Mason,  the  Council,  two  years  after  the  date  of 
their  own  patent,  conveyed  all  the  lands  and  "fishings"  be 
tween  the  rivers  Merrimack  and  Sagadahock.  Subsequently, 
and  rapidly,  other  grants  covered  the  same  soil,  and  angry 
and  endless  contentions  followed.  But  Gorges,  bent  on  leav 
ing  his  name  in  our  annals,  obtained  of  Charles  the  First  a 
grant  for  himself,  individually,  of  the  territory  between  the 
Piscataqua  and  Sagahadock,  and  thence  from  the  sea  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  northward.  These  were  the  ancient 
limits  of  the  "  Province  of  Maine."  Having  now  a  sort  of 
double  title,  Gorges  might  reasonably  hope  that  his  rights  were 
perfect,  and  that  he  might  pursue  his  plans  without  interrup 
tion.  But  Massachusetts,  on  the  one  hand,  insisted  that  her 
boundaries  were  narrowed  by  the  grants  to  Mason  and  him 
self ;  while  the  Council,  on  the  other,  with  inexcusable  care 
lessness  or  dishonesty,  continued  to  alienate  the  very  soil 
which  he  held,  both  from  themselves  and  their  common 
master.  Thus  he  was  harassed  his  life  long,  and  went  to  his 
grave  old  and  worn  out  with  perplexities  and  the  political 
sufferings  and  losses  of  a  most  troubled  period.  He  was  a 
soldier,  and  a  tried  friend  of  the  Stuarts  in  their  times  of  need, 
of  which  their  reigns  were  full,  and  was  plundered  and 
imprisoned  in  their  wars. 

Thus,  then,  Maine  was  not  founded  by  a  Puritan.  But 
after  the  death  of  Gorges,  his  son  deemed  his  possessions  in 
America  of  little  or  no  worth,  and  took  no  pains  to  retain 


4  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

them,  or  to  carry  out  his  designs ;  and  his  grandson,  to  whom 
his  rights  descended,  gave  to  Massachusetts  a  full  assignment 
and  release  for  the  insignificant  consideration  of  twelve  hun 
dred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling  •  a  sum  less  than  one  sixteenth 
of  the  amount  which  had  been  actually  expended.  By  this 
purchase,  however,  Massachusetts  acquired  only  a  part  of 
Maine  as  now  constituted.  France  made  pretensions  to  all 
that  part  lying  east  of  the  Penobscot,  and  the  Duke  of  York 
to  the  part  between  the  Penobscot  and  the  Kennebec  :  nor  was 
it  until  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  that  disputes  about 
boundaries  were  merged,  and  the  St.  Croix  and  Piscataqua 
became  the  acknowledged  charter  frontiers. 

Soon  after  the  bargain  was  made  with  Gorges' s  heir,  Massa 
chusetts  lost  her  own  charter ;  and  it  was  not  among  the 
least  of  the  causes  of  Charles's  anger  against  her,  that  she  had 
thwarted  his  design  of  procuring  Maine  for  his  natural  son, 
the  Duke  of  Monmouth.  The  newly  acquired  Province  was 
thought  valuable  only  for  its  forests  of  pine,  and  for  the  fish 
eries  of  its  coasts.  But  Massachusetts  had  objects  beyond 
cutting  down  trees  and  casting  fishing  lines.  Her  "presump 
tion  "  in  crossing  the  path  of  royalty  has  often  been  con 
demned.  But  the  citizens  of  Maine  cannot  too  often  commend 
the  indomitable  spirit  which  she  evinced  in  her  struggle  to 
root  out  Gorges  and  the  Cavaliers  or  Monarchists  of  his  plant 
ing,  and  to  put  in  their  place  the  humbler  but  purer  Round 
heads  or  Puritans  of  her  own  kindred.  Had  she  faltered, 
when  dukes  and  lords  signed  parchments  that  conveyed  away 
soil  which  she  claimed ;  had  she  not  sought  to  push  her  sove 
reignty  over  men  and  territories  not  originally  her  own ;  had 
she  not  broken  down  French  seigniories  and  English  feoff- 
doms,  Maine,  east  of  Gorges'  eastern  boundary,  might  have 
continued  a  part  of  the  British  empire  to  this  hour.  This 
opinion  is  given  considerately,  and  not  to  round  out  a  period. 
And  whoever  will  consult  the  diplomacy  of  1783,  will  learn  ^ 
that,  even  as  it  ioas^  the  British  Commissioners  contended  that 
the  Kennebec  should  divide  the  thirteen  states  from  the  colo 
nies  which  had  remained  true  to  the  crown. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  5 

Yet  fishing  and  lumbering  continued  to  be  the  two  great 
branches  of  industry  in  Maine,  until  the  Revolution.  The  new 
charter,  procured  of  William  and  Mary,  confirmed  Massachu 
setts  in  her  acquisitions  east  of  the  Piscataqua ;  but  it  contained 
several  restrictions  which  bore  hard  upon  both  of  these  interests. 
The  most  prominent  I  shall  briefly  notice,  because  they  had  a 
direct  influence  in  the  formation  of  political  parties.  And 
first,  that  instrument  provided,  that  all  pine  trees,  of  the  diam 
eter  of  twenty-four  inches  at  more  than  a  foot  from  the  ground, 
on  lands  not  granted  to  private  persons,  should  be  reserved  for 
masts  for  the  royal  navy ;  and  that,  for  cutting  down  any 
such  tree  without  special  leave,  the  offender  should  forfeit  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling.  This  stipulation  was  the  source  of 
ceaseless  disquiet,  and  it  introduced,  to  guard  the  forests  from 
depredation,  an  officer  called  the  "  Surveyor  General  of  the 
King's  Woods."  Between  this  functionary,  who  enjoyed  a 
high  salary,  considerable  perquisites,  and  great  power,  and  the 
lumberers,  there  was  no  love.  The  officials  of  the  day,  who 
were  now  of  royal  appointment,  and  not,  as  under  the  first 
charter,  elected  by  the  people,  generally  ranged  themselves  on 
the  side  of  the  surveyors,  their  deputies  and  menials ;  while 
the  House  of  Representatives,  as  commonly,  opposed  their 
doings,  and  countenanced  the  popular  clamors  against  them. 
Nor  were  the  controversies,  caused  by  the  efforts  of  the  sur 
veyors  to  preserve  spars  for  the  royal  navy,  confined  to  the 
halls  of  legislation  in  Massachusetts.  For,  besides  these,  and 
the  frequent  quarrels  in  the  woods  and  at  the  saw-mills,  the 
disputes  between  the  parties  were  carried  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
in  England.  There  seemed,  indeed,  in  the  judgment  of  several 
of  the  colonial  governors,  no  way  for  them  to  please  their  royal 
master  more,  than  by  discoursing  about  the  care  which  should 
be  exercised  over  the  "  mast- trees,"  and  about  the  severity 
with  which  the  statute-book  should  provide  against  "  tres 
passers."  In  a  word,  prerogative  and  the  popular  sentiment 
never  agreed.  Discussions  about  the  forests  of  Maine,  again 
and  again  ended  in  wrangles.  Friendships  were  broken  up, 
and  enmities  created  for  life.  This  is  emphatically  true  of 
1* 


6  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

Shute's  administration ,  when  Cooke,  the  Counsellor  of  Saga- 
dahock,  and  the  champion  of  the  " fierce  democracy" — as 
his  father  had  been  before  him  —  involved  the  whole  govern 
ment  of  Massachusetts  in  disputes,  which,  in  the  end,  drove 
the  Governor   home   to   England.     And  so,    subsequently,  a 
forged  letter,  probably  written  by  "  trespassers  "  or  their  friends 
to  Sir  Charles  Wager,   first  lord  of  the  Admiralty,  charging 
Governor  Belcher  with  conniving  with  depredators,   though 
seemingly  aiding  the  king's  surveyor,  —  that  "  Irish  dog  of  a 
Dunbar," —  did  its   intended  work.      Shirley,  Belcher's  suc 
cessor,   when  he   pressed   upon   the   House   the  necessity  of 
farther  enactments  to  protect  the  masts  and  spars  for  the  royal 
navy,    and  to  punish  those  who  obstructed  or  annoyed  the 
royal  agents,  was  tartly  told  in  substance,  by  that  body  :  "  Our 
laws  are  sufficient ;  we  have  done  our  duty  in  passing  them  ; 
let  the  crown  officers  do  their  duty  in  enforcing  them."  Hutch- 
inson,  for  a  like  call  upon  the  House,  was  in  like  manner 
reminded,  in  terms  hardly  more  civil,  that  there  were  already 
charter   and  statute  penalties  for    "  trespassers,"   a  surveyor 
general  and  deputies,   and  courts  of  law;  and  that,  provided 
with  these,  he  must  look  to  the  pines  "twenty-four  inches  in 
diameter,  upwards  of  twelve  inches  from  the  ground,"   for 
himself.     The  means  for  dealing  with  offenders,   it  must  be 
confessed,  were  ample  ;  the  crown  could  try  them  in  the  Court 
of  Admiralty,  where  there  was  no  jury :  upon  conviction  for 
a  common  trespass,  a  fine  of  £  100  could  be  imposed ;  and  for 
the   additional   misdeed   of  plundering   the   interdicted   trees 
under  a  painted  or  disguised  face,  twenty  lashes  could  be  laid 
on  the  culprit's  back ;  while,  more  than  all,  convictions  could 
be  had  on  probable  guilt,  unless  the  accused  would,   on  oath, 
declare  his  innocence. 

But  there  was  no  such  thing  as  executing  these  laws,  when 
it  was  the  popular  impression,  that  the  woods  were  "  the  gifts 
as  well  as  the  growth  of  nature  ;  "  and  that  the  king's  right  to 
them  was  merely  "  nominal,"  at  the  most.  The  provision  of 
the  charter  was  both  unwise  and  unjust.  To  reserve  to  the 
crown  a  thousand  times  as  many  trees  as  it  could  ever  require, 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  / 

and  to  allow  all  to  decay  that  were  not  actually  used,  was 
absurd.  Men  of  the  most  limited  capacity  saw  and  felt  this ; 
and  to  wean  them  from  a  power  which  insisted,  in  spite  of  all 
remonstrance,  in  enforcing  the  absurdity,  was  an  easy  task. 
And  we  can  readily  imagine,  what  indeed  is  true,  that  the 
woodmen  of  Maine,  when  rid,  by  the  Revolution,  of  the  pres 
ence  of  surveyor  generals  and  their  deputies,  exulted  as  heart 
ily  as  did  the  peasants  of  France,  when  the  outbreak  there 
abolished  forest  laws  somewhat  dissimilar,  but  equally  obnox 
ious. 

Again.  The  action  of  Parliament  with  regard  to  taxing 
lumber,  admitting  it  free,  or  even  encouraging  its  exportation, 
by  bounties,  was  eagerly  watched.  The  mother  country  pur 
sued  all  of  these  courses  at  different  times,  and  gave  dissatis 
faction,  or  created  discontent,  among  the  getters  and  dealers  in 
the  article,  as  changes  occurred  in  her  policy ;  just  as  she  does 
now,  with  those  Colonial  possessions  which  yet  remain  to  her. 
The  " mast-ships"  at  the  North,  like  the  "tobacco-ships"  at 
the  South,  were  the  common,  and  oftentimes  the  only,  means 
for  crossing  the  ocean ;  and  royal  governors  and  other  high 
personages  were  occasionally  compelled  to  embark  in  them. 
In  these  clumsy,  ill-shapen  vessels,  also  went  ladies  and  lovers 
to  visit  friends  in  that  distant  land,  which  some  Americans  yet 
call  "home."  Merchandise,  fashions,  and  the  last  novel  had 
a  slow  voyage  back;  but  men  and  maidens  were  models  of 
patience,  and  the  arrival  of  the  eleven  weeks  "mast-er"  gave 
as  much  joy  when  all  was  safe,  as  does  the  eleven  days  steamer 
now.  In  port,  while  loading,  the  "  mast-ships  "  were  objects 
of  interest,  and  their  decks  and  cabins  the  scenes  of  hilarity 
and  mirth.  We  read  of  illuminations,  and  firings  of  cannon, 
of  frolics  and  feasts. 

The  mast-trade  was  confined  to  England ;  and  the  transpor 
tation  of  spars  thither,  and  of  the  sawed  and  shaved  woods 
required  by  the  planter,  to  islands  in  the  West  Indies  possessed 
by  the  British  crown,  were  about  the  only  lawful  modes  of  ex 
porting  lumber  for  a  long  period.  By  the  statute  book,  the 
"  king's  mark  "  was  as  much  to  be  dreaded  by  the  mariner  and 


8  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

the  owner  of  the  vessel,  as  by  the  " logger"  and  the  "mill- 
man."  But  the  revenue  officers  caused  less  fear  than  the  sur 
veyors  of  the  woods,  until  fleets  and  armies  were  employed  to 
aid  them;  when  the  interdicted  trade  with  the  French  and 
Spanish  islands,  which  had  been  carried  on  by  a  sort  of  pre 
scriptive  right,  was  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  broken  up.  No 
enactments  of  the  mother  country  operated  to  keep  down 
Northern  industry  so  effectually,  poorly  as  they  were  obeyed, 
as  the  navigation  and  trade  laws  ;  and  on  none  did  they  bear 
more  severely  than  on  that  portion  of  the  people,  whose  position 
or  necessities  left  them  no  choice  of  employments.  There 
were  some,  nor  were  they  few,  who  were  obliged  to  plunder 
the  forests,  and  to  work  up  trees  into  marketable  shapes,  or 
starve.  Included  with  these  inhabitants  of  Maine,  were  those 
who  lived  upon  the  coasts  —  the  mariners,  and  the  fishermen. 
The  interests  of  all  these  classes  were  identical ;  and  to  them 
the  maritime  policy  of  the  government  of  England  was  cruel 
in  the  extreme ;  since  it  robbed  unremitting  toil  of  half  of  its 
reward.  Lumber  and  fish  were  inseparable  companions  in 
every  adventure  to  the  islands  in  the  Caribbean  sea.  Enter 
prises  to  get  either  were  hazardous,  at  the  best ;  and,  as  prac 
tical  men  can  readily  perceive,  all  who  engaged  in  obtaining 
them,  were  obliged  then,  as  they  are  now,  to  seek  different 
markets ;  so  that  to  shut  some  marts,  when  access  to  all,  would 
barely  remunerate  the  adventurers,  was,  in  effect,  to  close  the 
whole.  These  employments  were,  as  they  still  are,  among  the 
most  difficult  and  severe  in  the  whole  round  of  human  pur 
suits  ;  and  attempts  to  alleviate  the  burdens  of  parliamentary 
legislation  upon  both  were  made  in  Massachusetts,  long  before 
a  whisper  of  discontent  was  elsewhere  uttered  in  America. 
The  discussions  in  that  Colony,  in  behalf  of  her  citizens  at 
home  and  of  those  in  Maine,  who  were  engaged  in  getting  and 
transporting  the  products  of  the  forest  and  of  the  sea,  though 
commenced  without  reference  to  separation  from  the  mother 
country,  took  fast  hold  of  the  public  mind.  When,  then,  Otis 
at  length  spoke  out,  thousands  who  never  heard  or  read  his 
reasonings,  and  might  not  have  felt  their  force,  if  they  had,  were 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  9 

ready,  at  the  first  call,  to  clear  the  woods,  and  docks,  and  ware 
houses,  and  decks  of  vessels  of  the  "  swarms  of  officers  "  who 
" harassed"  them,  and  "  eat  out  their  substance." 

The  troubles  which  I  have  now  enumerated,  the  disputes 
which  grew  out  of  the  question,  whether,  as  the  territories  pur 
chased  of  Gorges  had  never  reverted  to  the  crown,  the  sur 
veyor  general's  duty  did,  in  fact,  require  him  to  mark  and 
protect  the  mast-trees  within  its  limits,  and  especially  the 
charter  inhibition  of  grants  east  of  the  Kennebec  without  the 
king's  consent,  kept  out  settlers,  held  titles  in  suspense,  and 
were  sufficient  not  only  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the  people 
from  the  British  crown,  but  to  confine  them  to  a  narrow  belt 
of  country. 

Thus,  as  far  down  as  1719,  no  man  of  the  Saxon  race  had 
a  habitation  from  Georgetown  to  Annapolis.  Fifteen  years 
later,  there  were  no  more  than  nine  thousand  persons  of  Euro 
pean  origin  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  St.  Croix,  and 
thence  northerly  to  the  dividing  and  disputed  "  highlands," 
where  royalty  last  contended  for  the  soil  of  Maine.  In  truth, 
not  a  grant  was  made  beyond  the  Penobscot  before  the  year 
1762 ;  and  Machias,  though  the  oldest  town  on  the  French 
claim,  was  not  alienated  prior  to  1770,  and  had  no  corporate 
existence  until  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

The  general  state  of  the  Colony,  as  the  controversy  came  to 
a  crisis,  may  be  summed  up  thus.  The  whole  number  of  in 
habitants  was  about  equal  to  the  present  population  of  the 
cities  of  Portland  and  Bangor.  The  Supreme  Court  held  one 
term  at  Falmouth  —  now  Portland — and  one  at  York,  annu 
ally.  There  were  ten  representatives  to  the  General  Court, 
none  of  whom  lived  east  of  Brunswick  or  the  Androscoggin 
river.  The  number  of  clergymen  was  thirty-four.  The  six 
counsellors  or  barristers  at  law,  were  William  Gushing,  James 
Sullivan,  David  Sewall,  Theophilus  Bradbury,  Caleb  Emery, 
and  David  Wyer ;  all  of  whom  were  Whigs,  except  the  last. 
Of  incorporated  towns,  there  were  twenty-five.  The  only  cus 
tom-house  was  at  Falmouth.  The  patronage  of  the  crown 
was  confined  to  the  officers  of  the  revenue,  to  a  corps  of  civil 


10  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

functionaries  by  no  means  numerous,  to  a  surveyor   of  the 
king's  forests  and  his  deputies. 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  body  of  the  people  were  Whigs. 
Still,  Maine  had  a  considerable  number  of  Loyalists  or  Tories. 
To  afford  them  a  place  of  refuge  and  protection,  was  the  prin 
cipal  object,  as  I  have  been  led  to  conclude,  of  establishing  a 
military  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot.  The  descendants 
of  Loyalists  who  found  shelter  in  the  garrison  at  Castine,  rep 
resent  that  it  was  thronged  with  adherents  of  the  crown  and 
their  families ;  and  after  the  disgraceful  discomfiture  of  Salton- 
stall  and  Lovell,  they  were  left  in  undisturbed  quiet  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war.  The  names  of  all  the  Tories  of  Maine, 
who  were  proscribed  and  banished  under  the  act  of  Massachu 
setts,  as  well  as  many  others,  will  be  found  in  their  proper 
connexions. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  some  dispute,  as  to  when,  where,  and 
by  whom,  the  great  drama  of  the  Revolution  was  opened  upon 
the  sea,  and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state,  that  the  honor  belongs, 
beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  to  the  "loggers"  and  "sawyers" 
of  the  ancient  "  Mechisses,"  now  Machias,  Maine.  Soon  after 
the  affair  at  Lexington,  these  prompt  and  hardy  Whigs  captured 
in  their  own  waters  the  king's  armed  schooner,  the  "  Margra- 
netto,"  mounting  four  guns  and  fourteen  swivels.  They  were 
themselves  armed  with  such  weapons  as  were  within  reach, 
among  which  were  tools  of  their  calling.  The  action  was 
bloody ;  and  about  twenty  of  their  own  and  the  vanquished 
party  were  killed  and  wounded.  They  received  the  thanks 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  commissions  to  cruise  and  cap 
ture  under  their  authority. 

The  patriotic  spirit  evinced  by  the  same  classes,  may  be  fur 
ther  illustrated  by  the  fact,  that  the  inhabitants  of  some  towns, 
though  destitute  of  money,  voted  quantities  of  shingles  and 
clap-boards  in  town-meeting,  for  the  purchase  of  stocks  of  am 
munition.  And  in  conclusion,  it  may  be  remarked,  that,  as 
Falmouth  was  the  seat  of  the  "mast- trade,"  so  its  destruction 
in  the  autumn  of  1775,  grew  out  of  matters  directly  connected 
with  its  chief  business. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  11 

In  passing  from  Maine  to  New  Hampshire,  we  shall  find  the 
general  state  of  things  very  similar.  The  occupations  of  the 
people  of  the  two  Colonies  were  much  alike.  New  Hampshire, 
though  not  an  appendage  of  Massachusetts  in  1775,  had  been 
twice  annexed  to  the  mother  of  New  England,  and  had  thus 
acquired  much  of  her  spirit.  Collisions  between  the  revenue 
officers  and  the  mariners  and  ship-owners  of  Portsmouth,  and 
between  the  guardians  of  the  "king's  woods"  and  the  lumber 
ers  of  the  interior,  had  been  frequent.  Indeed  the  "loggers" 
and  "sawyers"  had  whipped  the  deputies  of  the  surveyor 
general  so  often  and  so  severely,  that  the  term,  "swamp-law" 
was  quite  as  significant  a  phrase,  as  that  of  "lynch-law"  of 
our  own  time.  Yet,  as  will  appear,  the  Whigs  had  many  and 
powerful  opponents  in  the  Colony  planted  by  Mason,  the  asso 
ciate  patentee  of  Gorges. 

With  regard  to  Massachusetts,  it  seems  to  have  been  taken 
as  granted,  that  because  here  the  Revolution  had  its  origin ; 
that  because  the  old  Bay  State  furnished  a  large  part  of  the 
men  and  the  means  to  carry  it  forward  to  a  successful  issue ; 
and  because,  in  a  word,  she  fairly  exhausted  herself  in  the 
struggle ;  the  people  embraced  the  popular  side,  almost  in  a 
mass.  A  more  mistaken  opinion  than  this  has  seldom  pre 
vailed. 

The  second  charter,  or  that  granted  by  William  and  Mary, 
had  several  obnoxious  provisions  besides  those  which  had  pe 
culiar  reference  to  Maine,  and  its  acceptance  was  violently 
opposed.  And  Phips,  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  Shute,  Burnet, 
Belcher,  Shirley,  and  Pownall,  the  several  governors  who  were 
appointed  by  the  crown  under  one  of  these  provisions,  encount 
ered  embarrassments  and  difficulties,  and  some  of  them  were 
actually  driven  from  the  executive  chair  by  the  force  of  party 
heats.  In  fact,  the  "old-charter,"  or  "liberty-men,"  arrayed 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  "new-charter,"  or  "prerogative-men," 
on  the  other,  kept  up  a  continual  warfare.  When,  then,  in 
the  quarrel,  which  was  commenced  with  Bernard,  which  was 
continued  with  Hutchinson  and  Gage,  his  successors,  and 
which  finally  spread  over  the  continent  and  severed  the  British 


12  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

empire,  the  terms  of  "Whig"  and  "Tory"  were  employed, 
they  were  not  used  to  distinguish  new  parties,  but  were  simply 
epithets  borrowed  from  the  politics  of  the jnother  country,  and 
did  but  take  the  place  of  the  party  names  which  had  previously 
existed,  and  under  which,  political  leaders  had  long  moved  and 
trained  their  followers.  As  the  Revolutionary  controversy 
darkened,  individuals  of  note  did  indeed  change  sides;  but 
though  some  of  our  writers  have  hardly  mentioned  that  such 
a  state  of  things  preceded  the  momentous  conflict,  the  general 
truth  was  as  I  have  stated. 

A  few  particulars  will  show  the  numbers  and  influence  of 
the  royal  party  in  Massachusetts.  The  "Protesters  " — against 
the  Whigs — in  Boston,  were  upwards  of  one  hundred,  and 
among  them  were  some  of  the  most  respectable  persons  in  the 
capital.  On  the  departure  of  Governor  Hutchinson  for  Eng 
land,  he  was  addressed  by  more  than  two  hundred  merchants, 
lawyers,  and  other  citizens  of  Boston,  Salem,  and  Marblehead. 
On  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Gage,  his  successor,  forty-eight  persons 
of  Salem  presented  their  dutiful  respects;  and  when  he  retired 
from  the  executive  chair,  he  received  the  "Loyal  Address  from 
gentlemen  and  principal  inhabitants  of  Boston,"  as  they 
styled  themselves,  to  the  number  of  ninety-seven,  and  of 
eighteen  official  personages  and  country  gentlemen,  who  pos 
sessed  landed  estates,  and  who  had  been  driven  from  homes  by 
the  violent  proceedings  against  them.  At  Marshfield,  the 
"Associated  Loyalists"  consisted  of  about  three  hundred  per 
sons,  who  belonged  to  that  town  and  the  neighborhood,.  At 
Freetown  and  in  the  vicinity,  many  adherents  of  the  crown 
assembled  and  acted  in  a  body  against  the  Whigs,  under  the 
direction  of  Col.  Thomas  Gilbert,  a  noted  Loyalist  of  the  county 
of  Bristol.  Gage's  "citizen's  patrol,"  who  wore  badges  dis 
tinctive  of  loyalty,  consisted  of  nearly  three  hundred.  Briga 
dier  Gen.  Ruggles,  and  the  prominent  men  of  Worcester, 
Sandwich,  and  several  other  places,  organized,  in  some  form 
or  other,  bodies  of  men  more  or  less  numerous,  to  oppose  and 
counteract  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs,  of  their  respective 
sections  of  the  Colony. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  13 

Our  recollections  of  Charlestown  are  of  an  opposite  and  of  a 
most  interesting  nature.  Thomas  Danforth,  a  barrister  at  law, 
was  the  only  inhabitant  of  that  town,  who  claimed  or  received 
the  royal  protection.  The  course  of  the  people  of  Nantucket, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  hardly  to  be  passed  without  censure, 
they  took  no  part  whatever  for  years,  in  the  "unhappy  war "- 
as  they  termed  the  revolutionary  struggle — but  finally,  and 
towards  its  close,  were  allowed  by  Admiral  Digby  to  pursue 
their  peculiar  branch  of  industry  unharmed  by  the  king's 
fleet.  This  arrangement  was  effected  after  a  statement  of 
their  condition  and  distresses,  and  the  neutral  position  which 
they  had  assumed  and  maintained.  They  may  justly  claim 
in  excuse,  that  their  religious  faith  allowed  of  no  participation 
in  deeds  of  hostility,  and  that,  as  professed  non-combatants, 
they  could  shed  no  blood.  But  this  plea  will  not  account 
for,  or  in  any  way  explain,  the  secrecy  which  they  observed, 
as  to  the  permission  which  they  obtained  of  the  royal  ad 
miral  to  catch  whales  and  dispose  of  oil  and  bone  in  British 
ports. 

As  some  further  details  of  the  state  of  parties  in  Massachu 
setts  will  be  given  in  another  connexion,  a  brief  notice  of  the 
Loyalists  who  abandoned  their  homes  and  the  country  will 
serve  my  present  purpose.  Of  this  description,  upwards  of 
eleven  hundred  retired  in  a  body  with  the  royal  army  at  the 
evacuation  of  Boston.  This  number  includes,  of  course, 
women  and  children.  Among  the  men,  however,  were  many 
persons  of  distinguished  rank  and  consideration.  Of  members 
of  the  council,  commissioners,  officers  of  the  customs  and  other 
officials,  there  were  one  hundred  and  two ;  of  clergymen,  eigh 
teen;  of  inhabitants  of  country  towns,  one  hundred  and  five; 
of  merchants  and  other  persons  who  resided  in  Boston,  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  ;  of  farmers,  mechanics  and  traders,  three 
hundred  and  eighty-two. 

Washington  spoke  of  these  "Refugees"  in  terms  of  extreme 

severity.     In  a  letter  to  his  brother  John  Augustine,  dated  at 

Boston,  March  31,  1776,  and  immediately  after  the  evacuation, 

he  said:  "All  those  who  took  upon  themselves  the  style  and 

2 


14  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

title  of  government-men  in  Boston,  in  short,  all  those  who 
have  acted  an  unfriendly  part  in  this  great  contest,  have  shipped 
themselves  off  *  *  *  *  but  under  still  greater  disadvantages 
than  the  King's  troops,  being  obliged  to  man  their  own  vessels, 
as  seamen  enough  could  not  be  had  for  the  King's  transports, 
and  submit  to  every  hardship  that  can  be  conceived.  One  or 
two  have  done,  what  a  great  number  ought  to  have  done  long 
ago,  committed  suicide.  By  all  accounts,  there  never  existed 
a  more  miserable  set  of  beings,  than  these  wretched  creatures 
now  are.  Taught  to  believe  that  the  power  of  Great  Britain 
was  superior  to  all  opposition,  and,  if  not,  that  foreign  aid  was 
at  hand,  they  were  even  higher  and  more  insulting  in  their 
opposition  than  the  regulars.  When  the  order  issued,  therefore, 
for  embarking  the  troops  in  Boston,  no  electric  shock,  no  sud 
den  explosion  of  thunder,  in  a  word,  not  the  last  trump  could 
have  struck  them  with  greater  consternation.  They  were  at 
their  wits'  end,  and,  conscious  of  their  black  ingratitude,  they 
chose  to  commit  themselves,  in  the  manner  I  have  above  de 
scribed,  to  the  mercy  of  the  waves  at  a  tempestuous  season, 
rather  than  meet  their  offended  countrymen." 

Other  emigrations  preceded  and  succeeded  this;  but  they 
consisted  principally  of  individuals,  or  small  parties  of  intimate 
friends,  or  families  and  their  immediate  connexions.  But  the 
whole  number  who  embarked  at  different  ports  of  Massachu- 
etts,  pending  the  controversy,  and  during  the  war,  were,  as  I 
am  inclined  to  believe,  two  thousand,  at  the  lowest  computation. 
The  names  and  the  fate  of  a  considerable  proportion  of  them 
will  be  found  in  these  pages.  Most  of  them  took  passage  for 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where  they  endured  great  privations. 
Many,  however,  subsequently,  went  to  England,  and  there 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Of  those  who  accompanied 
Sir  William  Howe,  in  1776,  he  thus  wrote  to  Lord  George  Ger 
main,  in  April  of  that  year.  "Many  of  the  principal  inhabi 
tants  of  Boston  under  the  protection  of  the  army,  having  no 
means  of  subsistence  here  [Halifax],  apply  to  me  to  find  them 
a  passage  to  Europe,  which  they  cannot  otherwise  get  than  at 
a  most  exorbitant  rate.  They  have  my  assurance,  that  the 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  15 

first  transport  that  can  be  spared  shall  be  given  up  for  this 
purpose.  I  am  sorry  to  inform  your  Lordship,  that  there  is  an 
absolute  necessity  of  issuing  provisions  to  the  whole  of  them 
#  *  *  *  from  the  King's  stores,  without  any  prospect  of  stop 
ping  it.  It  must  be  confessed,  that  many,  having  quitted  the 
whole  of  their  property  and  estates,  some  of  them  very  consid 
erable  in  value,  are  real  objects  of  his  Majesty's  most  gracious 
attention."  * 

It  may  be  remarked,  in  conclusion,  that  Washington  regarded 
the  property  abandoned  by  the  Loyalists  in  their  flight,  as 
justly  exposed  to  confiscation.  He  addressed  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  on  the  subject,  and  transmitted  a  copy 
of  his  letter  to  Congress,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  views  of  that 
body  as  to  its  disposal,  and  "as  to  the  appropriation  of  the 
money  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  same." 

Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  may  be  considered  together. 
There  is  but  little  to  detain  us  in  either.  Both  were  governed 
by  charters  like  Massachusetts,  and  both  were  "pure  democ 
racies,"  since,  says  Chalmers,  "the  freemen  exercised  without 
restraint  every  power  deliberate  and  executive.  Like  Ragusa 
and  San  Marino,  in  the  old  world,  they  offered  an  example  to 
the  new,  of  two  little  republics  embosomed  within  a  great  em 
pire."  In  1704,  Mompesson,  the  Chief  Justice  of  New  York, 
wrote  to  Lord  Nottingham,  that  when  he  "was  at  Rhode  Island, 
they  did  in  all  things  as  if  they  were  out  of  the  dominions  of 
the  crown."  Of  Connecticut,  at  the  same  period,  Chalmers 
remarks,  that,  "  being  inhabited  by  a  people  of  the  same  prin 
ciples  though  of  a  different  religion,  they  acted  the  same  poli 
tical  part  as  those  of  Rhode  Island;"  and  he  quotes  from  a 
despatch  of  Lord  Cornbury  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  pithy 
saying,  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  Colonies  "hate  every  body 
that  owns  any  subjection  to  the  Queen"  [Anne]. 

The  Revolution,  which  so  essentially  affected  the  governments 
of  most  of  the  Colonies,  produced  no  very  perceptible  alteration 
in  those  of  either  Rhode  Island  or  Connecticut.  After  Wan- 

*  See  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  3d,  pages  325,  327,  and  343. 


16  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

ton,  the  governor  of  the  first,  was  deposed,  the  Whigs  suc 
ceeded  to  power  without  turmoil,  and  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
legislative  action.  Trumbull,  the  governor  of  the  latter,  was 
a  sound  Whig,  and  occupied  the  executive  chair  from  1769  to 

83  The  charters  of  both  Colonies  were  admirably  adapted 
to  their  wants  and  condition,  whether  regarded  as  dependen 
cies,  or  as  free  States  :  and  while  Connecticut  continued  with 
out  any  other  fundamental  law  until  the  year  1818,  Rhode 
Island  has  hardly  recovered  from  the  disquiets  and  ani 
mosities,  occasioned  by  the  very  recent  adoption  of  a  Consti 
tution. 

Yet,  though  less  restrained  by  charter  provisions  than  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  though  in  theory  "pure  democracies,"  and 
bearing  "hate"  towards  all  who,  in  queen  Anne's  time,  ac 
knowledged  her  authority,  there  was  no  greater  unanimity  of 
sentiment  on  the  questions  which  agitated  the  country  in  1775, 
than  elsewhere  in  New  England.  Indeed,  I  feel  assured  that, 
in  Connecticut,  the  number  of  adherents  of  the  crown  was 
greater,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  than  in  Maine,  Massa 
chusetts,  or  New  Hampshire.  This  impression  is  warranted 
by  documentary  evidence,  and  is  fully  sustained  by  facts, 
which  have  been  communicated  to  me  by  descendants  of  Loy 
alists  of  that  Colony.  Several  Episcopal  clergymen,  in  speak 
ing  of  the  political  sympathies  of  their  flocks,  confirm  the 
testimony  derived  from  the  above-named  sources,  while  the 
fact,  that  most  of  the  sect  founded  by  Robert  Sandeman  were 
"friends  of  government,"  leaves  me  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  cor 
rectness  of  the  conclusion  at  which  I  have  arrived.  Many  of 
the  Loyalists  of  Connecticut  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick  at 
the  close  of  the  war.  Of  a  part,  there  are  now  no  memorials, 
but  of  others,  and  of  another  class,  who  did  not  leave  the 
country,  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  something. 

In  passing  from  New  England,  we  are  to  speak  of  American 
Colonists  of  different  origin,  and  who  lived  under  different 
forms  of  the  Colonial  system  or  form  of  government.  Thus, 
New  York  had  no  charter,  but  was  governed  by  royal  instruc 
tions,  orders  in  council,  and  similar  authority  communicated 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  17 

to  the  governors  by  the  ministers  "  at  home."  The  governor 
and  council  were  appointed  by  the  king,  but  vacancies  at  the 
council  board  were  filled  by  the  governor.  The  people  elected 
the  popular  branch,  which  consisted  of  twenty-seven  members. 
To  say,  that  the  political  institutions  of  New  York  formed  a 
feudal  aristocracy -,  is  to  define  them  with  tolerable  accuracy. 
The  soil  was  held  by  a  few.  The  masses  were  mere  retainers 
or  tenants,  as  in  the  monarchies  of  Europe.  Nor  has  this  con 
dition  of  society  been  entirely  changed,  since  the  "anti-rent" 
dissensions  of  the  present  time  arise  from  the  vestige  which 
remains. 

Such  a  state  of  things  was  calculated  to  give  the  king  many 
adherents.  The  fact  agreed  with  the  theory.  In  some  coun 
ties,  a  Whig  was  a  man  rarely  met  with.  Documents  are  extant 
to  show,  that  in  1776,  no  less  than  twelve  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  persons  acknowledged  allegiance,  and  professed  them 
selves  to  be  dutiful  and  well  affected  subjects,  in  the  single 
county  of  Queens.  In  the  county  of  Suffolk,  as  Gov.  Tryon 
wrote  to  Lord  George  Germain,  nearly  eight  hundred  of  the 
militia  appeared  in  one  body,  and  were  sworn  to  be  faithful  to 
the  crown.  At  White  Plains,  in  the  county  of  West  Chester, 
there  were  one  hundred  and  sixty -one  "protesters"  against 
the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs.  In  Tryon  county,  the  signers 
of  a  "  Loyal  Declaration  "  were  numerous  ;  while  in  the  town 
of  Jamaica,  sixty-two  persons  affixed  their  names  to  a  similar 
paper. 

But  details  may  be  spared.  One  circumstance  will  prove 
the  preponderance  of  the  royal  party  beyond  all  doubt.  It  is 
this.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  a  bill  passed  the 
House  of  Assembly,  which  prohibited  persons  who  had  been 
in  opposition  from  holding  any  office  under  the  State. 
This  bill,  on  being  sent  to  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature, 
was  rejected,  and  on  the  ground  principally,  because,  if  al 
lowed  to  become  a  law,  no  elections  could  be  held  in  some 
parts  of  the  State,  inasmuch  as  there  were  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  Whigs,  in  certain  sections,  to  preside  at  or  conduct 
the  election  meetings. 
2* 


18  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

While  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  people  of  New  York  pre 
ferred  to  continue  their  connexion  with  the  mother  country, 
very  many  of  them  entered  the  military  service  of  the  crown, 
and  fought  in  defence  of  their  principles.  Whole  battalions, 
and  even  regiments,  were  raised  by  the  great  land-holders,  and 
continued  organized  and  in  pay  throughout  the  struggle.  In 
fine,  New  York  was  undeniably  the  Loyalists'  strong-hold,  and 
contained  more  of  them  than  any  other  colony  in  all  America. 
I  will  not  say  that  she  devoted  her  resources  of  men  and  of 
money  to  the  cause  of  the  army ;  but  I  do  say,  that  she  with 
held  many  of  the  one,  and  much  of  the  other,  from  the  cause 
of  the  right.  Massachusetts  furnished  67,907  Whig  soldiers 
between  the  years  1775  and  1783;  while  New  York  supplied 
but  17,781.  In  adjusting  the  war  balances,  after  the  peace, 
Massachusetts,  as  was  then  ascertained,  had  overpaid  her  share 
in  the  sum  of  1,248,801  dollars  of  silver  money;  but  New 
York  was  deficient  in  the  large  amount  of  2,074,846  dollars. 
New  Hampshire,  though  almost  a  wilderness,  furnished  12,496 
troops  for  the  continental  ranks,  or  quite  three-quarters  of  the 
number  enlisted  in  the  "  Empire  State." 

These  facts  show  the  state  of  parties  in  this  Colony  in  a 
strong  light.  One  other  incident,  which  presents  the  wavering, 
time-serving  course  that  prevailed,  even  after  Washington  had 
been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army,  and  when,  of 
course,  the  whole  country  was  committed  to  sustain  him,  will 
suffice.  On  the  25th  of  June,  1775,  a  letter  was  received  by 
the  New  York  Provincial  Congress,  which  communicated  in 
telligence  that  the  Commander-in-chief  was  on  his  way  to 
head-quarters  at  Cambridge,  and  would  cross  the  Hudson  and 
visit  the  city.  "News  came  at  the  same  time,"  says  Mr. 
Sparks,*  "  that  Governor  Tryon  was  in  the  harbor,  just  arrived 
from  England,  and  would  land  that  day.  The  Congress  were 
a  good  deal  embarrassed  to  determine  how  to  act  on  this  occa 
sion  ;  for  though  they  had  thrown  off  all  allegiance  to  the 
authority  of  their  governor,  they  yet  professed  to  maintain 


*  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  3,  p.  8. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  19 

loyalty  to  his  person.  They  finally  ordered  a  colonel  so  to 
dispose  of  his  militia  companies,  that  they  might  be  in  a  condi 
tion  to  receive  "  either  the  Generals,  or  Governor  Try  on,  which 
ever  should  first  arrive,  and  wait  on  both  as  well  as  circumstances 
would  allow"  Events  proved  less  perplexing  than  had  been 
apprehended,  as  General  Washington  arrived  several  hours 
previous  to  the  landing  of  Governor  Tryon."  That  a  Congress 
of  Whigs  should  have  been  so  irresolute  and  timid,  after  the 
blood  of  their  brethren  had  been  poured  out  at  Lexington  and 
on  Breed's  Hill,  is  unaccountable.  If  such  was  their  conduct, 
what  must  have  been  the  state  of  feeling  among  the  Tories, 
what  the  courage  and  confidence  which  animated  them  ?  To 
this  question,  the  machinations  of  the  adherents  of  the  crown, 
the  next  year,  may  afford,  perhaps,  a  satisfactory  answer.  In 
June  of  1776,  when  Washington  had  advanced  to  New  York 
with  his  army,  a  conspiracy  was  formed  against  him,  which 
excited  the  most  serious  apprehensions,  and  which,  but  for  a 
timely  discovery,  might  have  changed  the  course  of  the  revo 
lutionary  outbreak.  It  was  ascertained,  that  Governor  Tryon 
was  at  the  head  of  the  plot,  and  that  the  mayor  of  the  city  was 
his  principal  agent.  Other  persons  of  note  were  concerned  in 
the  dark  enterprise,  and  even  some  part  of  the  Whig  troops, 
and  of  Washington's  own  body  guard,  were  engaged  in  it. 
The  mayor,  several  citizens  and  soldiers,  were  seized  and  con 
fined  ;  and  Thomas  Hickey,  a  member  of  the  guard,  was 
executed  "  for  mutiny,  sedition,  and  treachery." 

New  Jersey,  says  Chalmers,  was  "a  scion  from  New  York, 
and  either  prospered  or  withered,  during  every  season,  as  the 
stock  flourished  or  declined."  Again  he  says,  that  "  planted 
by  Independents  from  New  England,  by  Covenanters  from 
Scotland,  by  conspirators  from  England,  such  scenes  of  turbu 
lence  were  exhibited  *  *  *  age  after  age,  as  acquired  *  *  *  the 
characteristic  appellation  of  '  The  Revolutions.'  '  Chalmers 
was  fond  of  strong  and  pointed  expressions,  and  some  of  his 
statements  are  to  be  received,  therefore,  with  allowance.  He 
saw  —  as  the  students  of  our  history  well  know  —  designs  to 
throw  off  allegiance,  to  "  set  up  for  independency,"  and  to  effect 


20  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

"  Revolutions,"  in  the  common  quarrels  between  the  Colonial 
Assemblies  and  the  Governors,  and  in  the  ordinary  peti 
tions  to  the  mother  country,  for  redress  of  real  or  supposed 
wrongs. 

New  Jersey  was  indeed  politically  annexed  to  New  York, 
and  the  connexion  was  dissolved  and  renewed  several  times 
prior  to  1738.  So,  too,  that  part  of  it,  which  was  originally 
known  as  "East  Jersey,"  was  at  one  period  assigned  to  Wil 
liam  Penn;  while  both  "  East  and  West  Jersey"  were  subse 
quently  added  to  the  jurisdiction  of  New  England.  In  1702, 
the  "  Jersies"  were  united  under  one  government,  and  received 
the  present  name ;  and  from  1 738  to  the  Revolution,  New  Jer 
sey  had  a  separate  Colonial  government.  William  Franklin  — 
who,  though  the  only  son  of  the  great  philosopher,  was  a  Loy 
alist —  was  the  last  royal  governor.  The  king's  party  formed 
a  considerable  body,  and  three  battalions  were  raised  and  placed 
in  the  field,  under  the  command  of  Cortlandt  Skinner,  the 
attorney  general  of  the  Colony ;  but  yet,  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  were  undoubtedly  Whigs.  The  losses  of  New  Jersey, 
in  proportion  to  her  population  arid  wealth,  were  greater,  prob 
ably,  than  in  any  other  member  of  the  Confederacy.  Her 
soldiers,  who  entered  the  service  of  Congress,  gained  enviable 
renown ;  and  within  her  borders  are  some  of  the  most  memora 
ble  battle-grounds  of  the  Revolution.  It  was  in  New  Jersey, 
that  Washington  made  his  best  military  movements,  and  dis 
played  his  highest  qualities  of  character ;  it  was  there,  that  he 
encountered  his  greatest  distresses  and  difficulties,  and  earned 
his  most  enduring  laurels. 

From  the  horrid  warfare,  which  the  Tories  of  New  Jersey 
countenanced,  in  which  they  participated,  and  which  the  royal 
generals  permitted,  I  turn  in  disgust.  But  yet,  its  general 
character  should  be  mentioned.  Instead  of  using  words  of  my 
own,  or  the  digested  statements  of  our  historians,  I  prefer  the 
record  of  contemporary  witnesses ;  and  to  guard  myself  against 
unfairness,  I  quote  from  both  Whig  and  Tory.  Governor  Liv 
ingston,  in  his  speech  to  the  General  Assembly,  in  1777,  thus 
spoke:  The  Royalists  "have  plundered  friends  and  foes; 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  21 

effects,  capable  of  division,  they  have  divided ;  such  as  were 
not,  they  have  destroyed.  They  have  warred  upon  decrepid 
old  age,  warred  upon  defenceless  youth ;  they  have  committed 
hostilities  against  the  professors  of  literature,  and  the  ministers 
of  religion,  against  public  records  and  private  monuments, 
books  of  improvement,  and  papers  of  curiosity ;  and  against 
the  arts  and  sciences.  They  have  butchered  the  wounded, 
asking  for  quarter,  mangled  the  dead,  weltering  in  their  blood, 
refused  to  the  dead  the  rites  of  sepulchre,  suffered  prisoners  to 
perish  for  want  of  sustenance  ;  violated  the  chastity  of  women, 
disfigured  private  dwellings  of  taste  and  elegance ;  and,  in  the 
rage  of  impiety  and  barbarism,  profaned  edifices  dedicated  to 
Almighty  God." 

In  more  general  terms,  this  dreadful  detail  is  fully  confirmed  /  \ 
by  Joseph  Galloway,  the  leading  Loyalist  of  Pennsylvania, 
who,  at  the  first,  was  a  Whig.  In  his  reply  to  Sir  William 
Howe's  "Observations,"  and  after  he  retired  to  England,  he 
remarks,  that;  "  All  and  more  than  I  have  said,  in  my  letters 
to  a  nobleman,  respecting  indiscriminate  and  excessive  plunder, 
is  known  to  thousands  within  the  British  lines,  and  to  a  num 
ber  of  gentlemen  now  in  England ;  and  in  respect  to  the  rapes, 
the  fact  alleged  does  not  depend  on  the  credit  of  newspapers ; 
a  solemn  inquiry  was  made,  and  affidavits  taken,  by  which  it 
appears,  that  no  less  than  twenty-three  were  committed  in  one 
neighborhood  in  New  Jersey  ;  some  of  them  on  married  women, 
in  presence  of  their  helpless  husbands,  and  others  on  daughters, 
while  the  unhappy  parents,  with  unavailing  tears  and  cries, 
could  only  deplore  the  savage  brutality." 

Deeds  like  these  ;  the  merciless  warfare  of  Sir  John  Johnson, 
who  ravaged  extensive  districts  in  New  York,  and  who  did  not 
spare  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  own  former  home ; 
the  burning  of  Danbury  and  Fairfield,  and  the  sacking  of 
New  Haven,  by  Tryon ;  the  destruction  of  New  London,  and 
the  massacre  there,  by  the  traitor  Arnold  ;  the  doings  of  that 
incarnate  devil,  John  Butler,  at  Wyoming  and  elsewhere;  these, 
and  other  similar  enormities,  which  were  the  works,  partially 
or  wholly,  of  our  countrymen  who  adhered  to  the  royal  cause, 


22  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

and  who  either  entered  the  regular  military  service,  or  assem 
bled  in  predatory  bands,  together  with  the  sad  fate  of  Jane 
McCrea,  who  was  the  daughter  of  one  Loyalist,  and  was  to  have 
become  the  bride  of  another,  and  who  was  the  victim  of  her 
parent's  and  lover's  Indian  allies,  speak  of  Tory  guilt,  and  of 
the  horrors  of  civil  war,  in  tones  which  will  ring  in  the  ears  of 
men  for  centuries  to  come. 

We  come  now  to  the  "  proprietary  government  "  of  Penn 
sylvania  ;  and  a  proprietary  government  in  America  was  a 
monarchy  in  miniature.  Its  outlines  at  first  were  these  ;  —  all 
legislative  powers  were  vested  in  the  governor  and  freemen  of 
the  Colony  in  the  colonial  council,  and  a  general  assembly. 
The  governor  had  a  treble  vote  in  the  council,  which  consisted 
of  seventy-two  members,  chosen  by  the  people.  The  assembly 
embraced  all  the  freemen,  but  as  the  Colony  increased,  the 
number  was  limited  to  five  hundred.*  This  system  was  par 
tially  changed  or  modified  from  time  to  time,  as  circumstances 
required ;  and  some  years  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the 
revolutionary  controversy,  a  strong  eifort  was  made  to  effect 
an  entire  abolition  of  the  "proprietary"  form,  and  establish 
another.  Among  the  leaders  of  this  movement  was  Franklin. 
But  though  the  measure  failed,  the  disquiets  which  caused  it 
to  be  attempted,  never  ceased  while  Pennsylvania  was  governed 
by  deputies  appointed  by  the  proprietaries  —  who  usually  re 
sided  in  England  —  and  while  the  other  obnoxious  features  of 
the  system  existed. 

The  proprietary  governors  were  not,  generally,  bad  men, 
but  the  rapacity  of  some  of  them  was  unbounded.  Chalmers 
quotes  the  remark  as  a  shrewd  saying,  that  "a  dignitary  of 
this  description  had  two  masters  ;  one  who  gave  him  his  com 
mission,  and  one  who  gave  him  his  pay ;  and  that  he  was, 
therefore,  on  his  good  behavior  to  both."  Several,  I  suspect, 
cared  very  little  for  either  of  their  two  masters ;  and  he  who 
said,  that  they  had  three  things  to  attend  to,  "  First  to  fleece  the 
people  for  the  king,  then  for  themselves,  and  lastly  for  the  pro- 

*  The  reader  will  find  some  further  particulars  of  the  nature  of  the  political 
institutions  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  biographical  notice  of  John  Penn. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  23 

prietaries  their  employers,"  told  more  truth,  and  had  more  wit, 
than  the  person  cited  by  our  well-informed  but  much  prejudiced 
annalist. 

It  is  perhaps  true,  that,  as  a  body,  the  party  of  which 
Franklin  was  a  member,  in  these  dissensions,  was  the  Whig 
party  of  the  Revolution.  Yet,  there  were  exceptions ;  and 
some  of  his  warmest  personal  and  political  friends  were  found 
among  the  adherents  of  the  crown ;  while  old  opponents 
ranged  themselves  by  his  side,  and  did  good  service  during  the 
trying  scenes  which  preceded  deeds  of  hostility.  For  a  time, 
the  course  of  Pennsylvania  was  extremely  doubtful.  Besides 
the  differences  which  existed  elsewhere,  the  religious  faith  of 
the  people  was  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  forcible  means  to 
dissolve  their  connexion  with  the  mother  country.  Hence, 
as  in  New  York,  timidity  and  indecision  were  evinced  among 
the  most  prominent  Whigs.  To  me,  the  line  of  conduct  pur 
sued  by  John  Dickinson  is  a  perfect  riddle.  His  various,  elo 
quent,  and  able  tracts  and  essays,  and  the  important  papers 
and  addresses,  which  came  from  his  pen  between  the  "Stamp- 
act  Congress"  in  1765,  and  the  close  of  the  first  Continental 
Congress,  in  1774,  gave  him  a  wide  and  just  fame.  But  in 
the  Congress  of  1776,  he  opposed  the  passage  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  with  great  zeal;  and  as  John  Adams  was 
its  "  great  pillar  and  support,"  and  "its  ablest  advocate  and 
champion,"  so  he,  of  all  others,  was  the  uncompromising  an 
tagonist  of  the  lion-hearted  patriot  of  the  North.  The  voice 
of  Pennsylvania,  was,  however,  in  favor  of  the  Declaration, 
though  uttered  under  circumstances  highly  painful ;  since  her 
delegates  were  equally  divided,  and  Morton,  on  whom  the  re 
sponsibility  of  rejecting  or  adopting  the  measure  was  cast, 
never, —  it  is  confidentially  said, —  had  a  day's  peace  after 
wards,  and  died  the  next  year,  in  consequence  of  anxiety 
of  mind  and  depression  of  spirits,  occasioned  by  the  part 
which  he  had  taken.  Dickinson  and  Morton  are  but  exam 
ples. 

Other  Whigs  fell  off  entirely ;  and  joining  the  royal  side, 
became  objects  of  dislike  or  contempt  to  the  consistent  and 


24  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

faithful,  not  only  of  the  party  which  they  abandoned,  but  of 
that  to  which  they  finally  adhered.  Of  this  description  were 
Galloway  and  Allen ;  both  of  whom  were  members,  and 
Duche,  the  chaplain,  of  the  Continental  Congress.  The  sub 
lime,  the  appropriate  prayer  framed  by  the  latter,  and  uttered 
by  him  in  his  official  capacity,  moved  men's  hearts  as  often  as 
he  bent  to  repeat  it,  and  it  will  move  the  hearts  of  all  who  read 
it  now.  But  events  show,  that  his  own  spirit  was  not  touched 
by  its  fervent  petitions  to  Almighty  God,  to  sustain  and  redeem 
his  country.  Not  content  merely  to  go  back  to  the  power, 
which,  in  eloquent  tones,  he  had  exhorted  his  countrymen  to 
oppose,  his  memory  is  loaded  with  the  infamy  of  an  attempt 
to  sap  the  integrity  of  Washington. 

I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  so  little  of  a  definite  character, 
of  the  political  condition  of  Delaware  and  Maryland,  at  the 
period  to  which  these  remarks  relate,  that  I  shall  detain  the 
reader  in  neither,  and  we  pass  to  the  "  Old  Dominion."  Vir 
ginia,  like  New  York,  was  a  feudal  aristocracy.  But  there,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  land-holders,  unlike  those  of  New 
York,  were  Whigs,  and,  of  course,  favored  the  revolutionary 
movement.  Yet,  it  does  not  appear,  that,  upon  the  questions 
of  dissolving  her  relations  with  the  mother  country,  she  was  as 
ready  as,  from  her  early  and  firm  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act, 
might  be  expected.  Indeed,  there  is  the  highest  possible  evi 
dence  for  believing,  that  Virginia  broke  her  Colonial  bonds 
with  hesitation.  Early  in  March,  1776,  Colonel  Joseph  Reed,- 
of  Pennsylvania,  in  a  letter  to  Washington,*  observed,  that 
there  was  "a  strange  reluctance  in  the  minds  of  many,  to  cut 
the  knot  which  ties  us  to  Great  Britain,  particularly  in  this 
Colony  and  to  the  southward"  In  writing  again  on  the  15th 
of  the  same  month,  he  was  more  explicit.  "It  is  said,"  — 
are  his  words,  —  "  the  Virginians  are  so  alarmed  with  the 
idea  of  independence,  that  they  have  sent  Mr.  Braxton  on 
purpose  to  turn  the  vote  of  that  Colony,  if  any  question  on 
that  subject  should  come  before  Congress.  Washington,  in  his 

*  Spark's  Washington,  Vol.  3,  p.  347. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  25 

reply  to  the  letter  of  the  15th,  admits,  that  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia,  "from  their  form  of  government,  and  steady  attachment 
heretofore  to  royalty,  will  come  reluctantly  into  the  idea  of  in 
dependence"  but  says,  that  "  time  and  persecution  bring  many 
wonderful  things  to  pass,"  and  that,  by  private  letters  which 
he  had  lately  received,  he  found  Paine's  celebrated  essay, 
called  "  Common  Sense,"  (which  recommended  separation,) 
was  "  working  a  powerful  change  there  in  the  minds  of  many 
men." 

This  correspondence,  as  will  be  seen,  occurred  but  a  little 
more  than  three  months  previous  to  the  time  when  Congress 
actually  declared  the  Thirteen  Colonies  to  be  free  and  indepen 
dent  States ;  and  the  opinions  of  persons  so  well  informed,  so 
intimate  in  friendship,  and  occupying  so  responsible  public 
stations,  are  to  be  regarded  as  decisive. 

Again.*  If  the  rule,  which  may  be  fairly  applied  to  the  free 
States,  be  used  to  measure  the  patriotism  of  Virginia,  her  claims 
to  distinction  will  hardly  be  manifest.  Thus,  between  1775 
and  1783,  Connecticut,  with  a  population  far  smaller,  furnished 
the  Whig  army  of  regulars  with  32,039  men ;  while  the  num 
ber  from  Virginia,  during  the  same  period,  was  but  26,672. 
She  was  likewise  deficient  in  a  small  sum  of  her  quota  of 
money.  Yet  Washington,  Henry,  the  Lees,  Jefferson,  and 
Bland,  were,  undoubtedly,  the  true  exponents  of  her  principles. 

The  Colonial  history  of  North  Carolina,  as  far  as  it  is  per 
tinent  to  our  purpose,  may  be  related  in  a  few  words.  It  was 
long  united  in  the  same  government  with  South  Carolina,  and 
was  known  as  the  "County  of  Albermarle;  "  but  finally  by 

*  The  concession  to  Virginia  indicated  in  the  text,  is  not  made  of  right, 
inasmuch,  as  her  ability  to  furnish  a  much  larger  number  of  troops  was  as 
serted  by  Congress.  For  the  years  1777,  1778,  1781,  and  1782,  the  quotas 
to  be  provided  by  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  were  precisely  the  same  in  the 
number  of  battalions  and  men ;  yet  in  these  years,  the  former  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  commander-in-chief,  22,981,  while  his  native  State,  though 
bound  to  enlist  an  equal  number,  actually  enlisted  but  13,403,  or  9,578 
less  than  Massachusetts.  The  difference  would  have  formed  a  respectable 
army. 

3 


26  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

its  present  name.  It  enjoyed  a  separate  House  of  Assembly 
as  early  as  the  year  1715,  and  was  formed  into  an  entirely 
distinct  Colony  twelve  years  afterwards.  As  late  down  as  the 
reign  of  George  the  First,  Chalmers  avers,  that  "  this  wretched 
province  was  continually  branded  as  the  general  receptacle  of 
the  fugitive,  the  smuggler,  and  the  pirate ;  as  a  community, 
destitute  of  religion  to  meliorate  the  heart,  or  of  laws  to  direct 
the  purpose  of  the  will."  In  speaking  of  the  state  of  society 
in  the  succeeding  reign,  he  indulges  in  similar  strong  expres 
sions,  all  of  which  are  to  be  qualified. 

The  institutions  of  North  Carolina  were  decidedly  monarch 
ical  from  the  first.  Political  or  social  disorder  seems  to  have 
prevailed,  to  some  extent,  throughout  her  colonial  existence. 
After  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Stuarts,  many  of  the  adherents 
of  the  last  of  that  name  who  sought  the  British  throne,  fled 
for  refuge  to  America,  and  settled  within  her  borders.  And  it 
was  singular  — was  it  not  ? —  that  most  of  them  were  Loyalists, 
that  men  who  had  become  exiles  for  the  part  which  they  had 
taken  against  the  House  of  Brunswick,  should  here,  and  in 
another  civil  war,  espouse  its  cause,  and,  a  second  time  the 
losers,  go  a  second  time  into  banishment.  Equally  remarka 
ble  in  the  politics  of  this  Colony,  was  the  course  of  those  who, 
in  1771,  rose  in  insurrection,  and  were  known  as  "Regulators/' 
These  men  complained  of  various  oppressions,  but  especially 
of  those  which  attended  the  practice  of  law  ;  they  appeared  in 
arms,  and  were  determined  to  prostrate  the  government.  Gov 
ernor  Try  on  totally  defeated  them,  and  left  three  hundred  of 
their  number  dead  on  the  field.  They  were  the  earliest  revo 
lutionists  in  America  —  as  far  as  hostile  deeds  were  concerned 
—  and,  it  might  be  reasonably  concluded,  became  Whigs.  But 
disappointing  expectation,  like  the  followers  of  the  Pretender, 
above  mentioned,  a  large  majority  joined  the  royal  party,  and 
enlisted  under  the  king's  banner. 

North  Carolina,  then,  originally  monarchical,  and  adding  to 
her  native  Loyalists,  the  survivors  of  the  large  emigration 
from  Scotland,  was  nearly  divided.  Some  of  her  leading 
Whigs,  as  well  as  their  descendants,  have  endeavored  to  prove, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  27 

that  the  popular  party  was  much  in  the  majority.  Facts,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  hardly  sustain  them.  The  Whig  regulars,  for 
the  whole  period  of  the  war,  were  barely  7,263,  or  only  1,355 
more  than  from  Rhode  Island,  the  smallest  State  in  the  confed 
eracy.  With  a  population  considerably  more  than  double  to 
that  of  New  Hampshire,  how  did  it  happen,  that  the  number 
of  continental  troops  furnished,  was  5,233  less?  But  without 
relying  upon  this  test  —  as  in  fairness,  perhaps.  I  should  not, 
when  speaking  of  any  slave  State  —  what  are  the  results  ob 
tained  by  an  examination  of  separate  counties?  Tn  Anson 
county,  Governor  Martin  had  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
"  Loyal  Addresses;  "  in  Guilford  county,  he  had  one  hundred 
and  sixteen ;  in  Rowan  and  Surry,  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  ;  and  it  is  indisputably  true,  that  the  banks  of  the  Cape 
Fear  river,  the  vallies  of  its  remote  sources,  and  the  ter 
ritory  bordering  on  the  Deep  and  Haw  rivers,  which  em 
brace  the  present  counties  of  Moore,  Orange,  Chatham,  Guil 
ford,  and  Randolph,  and  then,  as  now,  comprising  the  very 
heart  of  North  Carolina,  were  overrun  with  Tories.  And,  be 
sides,  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  the  adherents  of  the  crown 
so  far  outnumbered  the  Whigs,  as  to  ravage  their  estates  with 
impunity,  and  carry  off  their  slaves  and  cattle,  long  before  a 
British  "  regular  "  set  his  feet  on  the  soil,  to  aid  or  countenance 
the  lawless  proceedings. 

In  another  essential  particular,  how  was  it  ?  In  the  battle 
of  Moore's  Creek,  Colonel  Caswell  defeated  a  body  of  troops, 
and  made  eight  hundred  and  ninety-four  prisoners,  every  man 
of  whom,  officers  and  soldiers,  were  Loyalists.  On  no 
other  field  of  battle,  as  far  as  I  have  knowledge,  was  there 
so  large  a  capture  of  adherents  to  the  crown,  during  the  war, 
if  those  who  submitted  at  King's  Mountain  be  excepted. 
These  facts  show,  then,  not  only  the  strength,  but  the  deeply 
hostile  spirit  of  the  royal  party,  and  leave  the  conviction,  that 
their  opponents  could  have  been  scarcely  their  superiors  in 
point  of  numbers. 

Again.  How  was  it  with  a  portion  of  the  Whigs  ?  There 
is  proof,  that  many  were  as  unstable  as  the  wind.  If  the  sky 


28  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

was  bright,  and  a  Whig  victory  had  been  obtained  somewhere, 
and  if,  above  all,  no  king's  troops  were  near,  why,  then,  these 
changing  men  were  steadfast  for  the  right;  but  if  news  of 
reverses  reached  them,  or  the  royal  army  came  in  their  midst, 
then  they  "supported,"  and,  by  their  own  account,  "always 
had  supported,  their  lawful  sovereign,  his  most  gracious  ma 
jesty." 

I  would  willingly  do  the  Whigs  of  North  Carolina  no  injus 
tice  ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  would  relieve  them  from  all  impu 
tations  which  cannot  be  sustained  by  ample  and  the  most 
unobjectionable  testimony.  It  is  in  this  spirit,  that  I  dissent 
from  some  of  the  declarations  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  That  distin 
guished  man,  in  a  written  statement  made  a  few  years  before 
his  decease,  distinctly  alleges,  that  William  Hooper,  one  of 
the  delegates  in  Congress  from  that  State  in  1776,  was  a  rank, 
an  out  and  out  Tory.  Mr.  Hooper  was  bom  in  Massachusetts, 
and  was  educated  at  Harvard  University.  His  father,  and 
nearly  all  of  his  relatives,  were,  indeed,  Loyalists.  But  he 
was  a  student  of  James  Otis,  and  imbibed  his  political  senti 
ments  ;  nor  did  he  leave  New  England  until  after  parties  were 
formed,  and  until  after  the  "Stamp-Act"  difficulties  had 
passed  away.  I  have  read  several  of  his  confidential  letters 
to  his  friends,  while  he  was  in  Congress ;  letters  in  which,  if 
he  possessed  the  political  sympathies  attributed  to  him  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  the  inclinations  of  his  mind  would  have  been  shown. 
That  he  was  a  timid  man,  like  Morton  of  Pennsylvania,  is  very 
probable.  Yet,  I  submit,  that  no  defence  is  necessary.  Hooper 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  of  all  documents 
to  which  a  "  Tory  "  would  have  affixed  his  name,  that,  cer 
tainly,  was  among  the  very  last. 

It  is  grateful,  now,  to  turn  to  the  brighter  side,  and  to  bestow 
words  of  praise.  The  original  Whig  party  of  North  Carolina 
embraced  a  large  proportion  of  the  wealth,  virtue,  and  intelli 
gence  of  the  State.  In  the  county  of  Bute,  especially,  the 
king  had  no  friends,  except  a  few  Scotch  merchants,  and 
vagrant  pedlers  ;  while  the  number  of  wavering  Whigs  was 
so  small,  as  that  the  county  was  nearly  unanimous  in  favor 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  29 

of  the  change  which  the  leaders  advocated,  and  put  their  for 
tunes  and  lives  at  hazard  to  obtain.  Nor  should  it  be  for 
gotten,  that  in  the  county  of  Mecklenburgh  a  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  passed,  more  than  a  year  before  the  more 
celebrated  instrument  of  the  same  name  was  adopted  by  the 
Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  As  late  as  the  year 
1819,  Mr.  Jefferson  made  a  labored  argument,  to  prove  that 
no  such  document  exists.  But  that  such  a  paper  was  written, 
considered,  signed,  and  promulgated,  is  now  as  well  established 
as  is  any  event  in  our  history.  It  is  known,  moreover,  that 
Colonel  Thomas  Polk  *  originated  the  measure,  and  that  the 
Declaration  itself  was  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Ephraim  Brevard. 

South  Carolina,  at  first,  and  for  about  half  a  century,  was 
a  proprietary  government,  and  like  Pennsylvania,  therefore,  a 
sort  of  hereditary  monarchy  in  miniature.  In  1719,  the  people 
abolished  this  form,  took  from  the  proprietors  the  power  of 
appointing  governors,  and  erected  a  temporary  republic.  This 
change  was  but  for  a  moment;  and  two  years  after,  a  regal 
government  was  established,  which  continued  until  the  Revo 
lution.  As  in  all  the  Colonies,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and 
Pennsylvania  excepted,  the  governor  was  appointed  by  the 
king.  In  other  respects,  the  British  constitution  was  the 
model.  In  all  the  essential  features,  then,  the  institutions  of 
South  'Carolina  were  thoroughly  monarchical,  from  the  begin 
ning  to  the  end  of  her  Colonial  existence ;  and  the  principal 
object  of  the  inhabitants,  in  1719,  seems  to  have  been,  rather 
to  transfer  the  power  of  appointing  the  governor  from  the  pro 
prietaries  to  the  crown,  than  to  obtain  and  exercise  the  right  of 
electing  their  executive  for  themselves.  When,  in  1775,  the 
government  passed  from  Bull,  the  royal  lieutenant-governor, 
into  Whig  hands,  a  provisional  constitution  was  adopted, 
which  was  new  modelled  after  the  declaration  of  indepen 
dence. 

The  public  men  of  South  Carolina  of  the  present  generation, 
claim  that  her  patriotic  devotion  in  the  revolution  was  inferior 

*  Col.  Polk  was.  I  think,  the  great  uncle  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

3* 


30  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

to  none,  and  was  superior  to  most  of  the  States  of  the  Confed 
eracy.  As  I  examine  the  evidence,  it  was  not  so.  The  popula 
tion,  composed  as  it  was  of  emigrants  from  Switzerland,  Ger 
many,  France,  Ireland,  and  the  Northern  Colonies  of  America, 
and  their  descendants,  was,  of  course,  deficient  in  the  necessary 
degree  of  homogeneity  or  sameness  of  nature,  to  insure  any 
considerable  unanimity  of  political  sentiment.  It  is  true, 
however,  that  individual  men  took  an  early,  a  noble,  and  a 
decided  stand  against  the  oppressive  measures  of  the  British 
ministry.  It  is  equally  true,  that  South  Carolina  was  the  first 
State  of  the  thirteen,  to  form  an  independent  constitution,  and 
that  she  overpaid  her  proportion  of  the  expenditures  of  the 
war,  in  the  sum  of  1,205,978  dollars.  She  sent  some  gallant 
Whigs  to  the  field,  and  several  wise  ones  to  the  council.  But 
to  use  the  apt  sayings  of  e very-day  life,  "  One  swallow  does 
not  make  a  summer,"  nor  "  One  feather  make  a  bed ;  "  and 
so,  a  Laurens,  father  and  son,  a  Middleton,  a  Rutledge,  Ma 
rion,  Sumpter,  and  Pickens,  do  not  prove  that  the  Whig  leaven 
was  diffused  throughout  the  mass  of  her  people. 

The  whole  number  of  regulars  enlisted  for  the  Continental  ser 
vice  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  struggle,  was  231,959. 
Of  these,  I  have  once  remarked,  67,907  were  from  Massa 
chusetts  ;  and  I  may  now  add,  that  every  State,  south  of  Penn 
sylvania,  provided  but  59,493,  or  8,414  less  than  this  single 
State;  and  that  New  England  —  now,  I  grieve  to  say,  con 
temned  and  reproached  —  equipped  and  maintained  118,350, 
or  above  half  of  the  number  placed  at  the  service  of  Con 
gress  during  the  war.*  I  would  not  press  these  facts  to  the 

*  The  following  table  of  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  each  State 
during  the  Revolution,  has  been  formed  from  the  statements  and  statistics 
contained  in  the  Report  of  General  Knox,  secretary  of  war,  to  Congress,  in 
1790.  The  number  of  regulars,  or  of  continentals,  was  derived  by  him  from 
the  official  returns  deposited  in  the  war  office,  and  is,  therefore,  correct.  It 
will  be  seen,  that  one  class  of  the  militia  is  conjectural;  the  first  column  of 
this  kind  of  force  is  accurate,  as  stated  in  the  Report,  and  the  second 
(in  which,  probably,  there  is  not  much  but  "  conjecture  ")  shows  the  supposed 
contributions  of  each  State,  in  addition  to  the  continentals,  and  the  returned 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY. 


31 


injury  of  the  Whigs  of  the  South.  The  war,  after  the  evacu 
ation  of  Boston,  I  am  aware,  was  transferred  from  New  Eng 
land  to  the  Middle  and  Southern  States;  and  these  States, 
accordingly,  required  bodies  of  troops  to  be  kept  at  home  to 
protect  themselves.  But  as  it  is  to  be  presumed,  that  most  of 
such  bodies  composed  a  part  of  the  regular  force  employed  by 
Congress,  and  were,  therefore,  included  in  the  Continental 
establishment  and  pay,  the  argument  is,  in  no  essential  par 
ticular,  weakened  by  the  admission,  that  the  Whigs  of  the 
South  were  of  necessity  employed  in  the  defence  of  their  own 
fire-sides.  For,  were  this  the  truth  of  the  case,  the  numbers 
in  this  service,  as  well  as  in  other,  would  still  appear,  in  mak 
ing  up  the  aggregate  force,  enlisted  from  time  to  time,  in  each 
State.  The  exact  question  is,  then,  not  where  were  the  battle 
grounds  of  the  Revolution,  but  what  was  the  proportion  of 
men,  which  each  of  the  thirteen  States  supplied  for  the  contest. 

militia.  A  similar  table  was  published  in  the  New  Hampshire  Historical 
Collections,  Niles's  Register,  and  American  Almanac,  which  gives  the  regu 
lar  force  at  231,791,  the  number  of  militia  at  56,163,  but  omits  the  quotas 
required  of  each  State,  and  the  conjectural  militia.  The  continentals  of  that 
table  and  the  following  nearly  agree. 


Quotas  fixed 

Aggregate 

STATES. 

and  required  Troops  furnished  by  each  State. 

SO        & 

torce  rur- 

by  Congress. 

nished  by 

Estimated,  or 

each  State, 

Continentals. 

,....  .                  conjectural, 
Militia  re-     in  addition  to 

including 

turned.           continentals 

the  conjec 

and  militia 

tural 

returned. 

militia. 

New  Hampshire 

10,194 

12,496 

2,093 

3,700 

18,289 

Massachusetts 

52,698 

67,907 

15,145 

9,500 

92,552 

Rhode  Island 

5,694 

5,908 

4,284 

1,500 

11,692 

Connecticut    .     .     . 

28,336     1    32,039 

7,238    1      3,000 

42,277 

New  York 

15,734 

17,781 

3,866 

8,750 

30,397 

New  Jersey    .     .     . 

11,396 

10,727 

6,055 

2,500 

19,282 

Pennsylvania  .     .     . 

40,416 

25,608 

7,357 

2,000 

34,965 

Delaware  .... 

3,974 

2,387 

0,376    \      1,000 

3,763 

Maryland  .... 

26,608 

13,832 

3,929 

4,000 

21,761 

Virginia    .... 

48,522 

26,672 

4,429 

21,880 

52,981 

North  Carolina    . 

23,994 

7,263 

3,975 

12,000 

23,238 

South  Carolina    .     . 

16,932 

6,660 

0,000 

25,850 

32,510 

Georgia     ....            3,974 

2,679 

0,000 

9,900 

12,579 

288,472 

231,959 

58,747 

105,580 

396,286 

32  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

In  considering  the  political  condition  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  it  was  admitted,  that  these  States  were  not  able  to 
provide  troops  according  to  their  population,  as  compared  with 
the  States  destitute  of  a  "  peculiar  institution."  The  same 
admission  is  now  made  in  behalf  of  South  Carolina.  Yet,  did 
6,660  Whig  soldiers  exhaust  her  resources  of  men  ?  Could 
she  furnish  only  752  more  than  Rhode  Island,  the  smallest 
State  in  the  Confederacy ;  only  one  fifth  of  the  number  of 
Connecticut ;  only  one  half  as  many  as  New  Hampshire,  then 
almost  an  unbroken  wilderness  ?  She  did  not ;  she  could  not 
defend  herself  against  her  own  Tories ;  and  it  is  hardly  an 
exaggeration  to  add,  that  more  Whigs  of  New  England  were 
sent  to  her  aid,  and  now  lie  buried  in  her  soil,  than  she  sent 
from  it  to  every  scene  of  strife  from  Lexington  to  Yorktown. 

South  Carolina,  with  a  Northern  army  to  assist  her,  could 
not,  or  would  not.  even  preserve  her  own  capital.  When  news 
reached  Connecticut,  that  Gage  had  sent  a  force  into  the 
country,  and  that  blood  had  been  shed,  Putnam  was  at  work 
in  his  field ;  leaving  his  plough  in  the  furrow,  he  started  for 
Cambridge,  without  changing  his  garments.  When  Stark 
heard  the  same  tidings,  he  was  sawing  pine-logs,  and  without 
a  coat ;  shutting  down  the  gate  of  his  mill,  he  commenced  his 
journey  to  Boston  in  his  shirt-sleeves.  The  same  spirit  ani 
mated  the  Whigs  far  and  near,  and  the  capital  of  New  Eng 
land  was  invested  with  fifteen  thousand  armed  men. 

How  was  it  at  Charleston  ?  That  city  was  the  great  mart 
of  the  South ;  and,  what  Boston  still  is,  the  centre  of  the  ex 
port  and  import  trade  of  a  large  population.  In  grandeur,  in 
splendor  of  buildings,  in  decorations,  in  equipages,  in  shipping 
and  commerce,  Charleston  was  equal  to  any  city  in  America. 
But  its  citizens  did  not  rally  to  save  it,  and  Gen.  Lincoln  was 
compelled  to  accept  of  terms  of  capitulation.  He  was  much 
censured  for  the  act.  Yet,  whoever  calmly  examines  the  cir 
cumstances,  will  be  satisfied,  I  think,  that  the  measure  was 
unavoidable;  and  that  the  inhabitants,  as  a  body,  preferred 
to  return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  British  crown.  The  people, 
on  whom  Congress  and  Gen.  Lincoln  depended  to  complete  his 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  33 

force,  refused  to  enlist  under  the  Whig  banner ;  but  after  the 
surrender  of  the  city,  they  flocked  to  the  royal  standard  by 
hundreds.  In  a  word,  so  general  was  the  defection,  that  per 
sons  who  had  enjoyed  Lincoln's  confidence  joined  the  royal 
side,  and  men  who  had  participated  in  his  councils  bowed 
their  necks  anew  to  the  yoke  of  Colonial  vassalage.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  considered  his  triumph  complete,  and  communicated 
to  the  ministry  the  intelligence,  that  the  whole  State  had  yielded 
submission  to  the  royal  arms,  and  had  become  again  a  part  of 
the  empire.  To  the  women  of  South  Carolina,  and  to  Marion, 
Sumpter,  and  Pickens,  the  celebrated  partisan  chiefs,  who  kept 
the  field  without  the  promise  of  men,  money,  or  supplies,  it 
was  owing,  that  Sir  Henry's  declaration  did  not* prove  entirely 
true  for  a  time,  and  that  the  name  and  the  spirit  of  liberty 
did  not  become  utterly  extinct. 

Again  ;  what  was  the  nature  of  the  conflict  between  the  two 
great  parties  in  South  Carolina?  Did  the  Whigs  and  their 
opponents  meet  in  open  and  fair  fight,  and  give  and  take  the 
courtesies,  and  observe  the  rules,  of  civilized  warfare  ?  Alas, 
no !  They  murdered  one  another.  I  wish  it  were  possible  to 
use  a  milder  word ;  but  murder,  is  the  only  one  that  can  be 
employed  to  express  the  truth.  Of  this,  however,  the  reader 
shall  judge.  I  shall  refrain  from  a  statement  of  my  own,  and 
rely  on  the  testimony  of  others. 

Gen.  Greene  thus  spoke  of  the  hand  to  hand  strifes,  which  I 
stigmatize  as  murderous.  "The  animosity,"  said  he,  "  bet  ween 
the  Whigs  and  Tories,  renders  their  situation  truly  deplorable. 
The  Whigs  seem  determined  to  extirpate  the  Tories,  and  the 
Tories  the  Whigs.  Some  thousands  have  fallen  in  this  way, 
in  this  quarter,  and  the  evil  rages  with  more  violence  than  ever. 
If  a  stop  cannot  be  soon  put  to  these  massacres,  the  country  will 
be  depopulated  in  a  few  months  more,  as  neither  Whig  nor 
Tory  can  live" 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that,  after  Washington,  Greene 
was  the  ablest  man  in  commission,  that  his  character  was  with 
out  blemish;  or  that,  as  he  was  on  the  spot,  his  declarations 
are  to  pass  unquestioned.  Still,  as  the  late  Chief  Justice 


34  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

Marshall  confirms  his  narration,  though  in  more  general  terms, 
an  extract  from  the  Life  of  Washington  may  serve  to  remove 
all  fear,  that  the  Northern  general  was  influenced  by  sectional 
feeling.  The  people  of  the  South,  says  the  eminent  jurist, 
"  felt  all  the  miseries  which  are  inflicted  by  war  in  its  most 
savage  form.  Being  almost  equally  divided  between  the  two 
contending  parties,  reciprocal  injuries  had  gradually  sharpened 
their  resentments  against  each  other,  and  had  armed  neighbor 
against  neighbor,  until  it  became  a  war  of  extermination.  As 
the  parties  alternately  triumphed,  opportunities  were  alternately 
given  for  the  exercise  of  their  vindictive  passions." 

It  were  a  hard  duty  to  determine,  from  an  examination  of 
the  details  of  the  contest  thus  vividly  portrayed,  which  party 
was  guilty  of  the  greatest  barbarities ;  and  I  dismiss  the  sub 
ject  with  the  remark,  that,  whatever  the  guilt  of  the  Tories, 
the  Whigs  disgraced  their  cause  and  the  American  name. 
Nor  was  it  in  South  Carolina  only,  that  deeds  of  shame  were 
done.  There  were  those  among  the  Whig  officers  who  served 
in  other  sections,  —  nor  were  they  all  of  inferior  rank,  —  who 
took  life  without  necessity,  and  for  the  sake,  apparently,  of 
merely  enjoying  the  death-scene  of  a  trembling,  shrieking  Tory. ' 
Others,  mayhap,  there  were,  who 

"  Traded  in  the  blood  of  innocence,  and  plead 
Expedience  as  a  warrant  for  the  deed." 

Georgia,  the  remaining  Colony,  was  in  its  infancy,  and 
Oglethorpe,  its  founder,  lived  until  after  it  became  an  indepen 
dent  State.  The  designs  of  himself  and  his  associates  in  its 
settlement,  were  highly  benevolent  and  generous;  and  the 
public  purse  contributed  a  considerable  sum  to  aid  their  under 
taking.  By  their  charter,  the  king  was  to  model  the  govern 
ment  at  the  end  of  twenty-one  years;  and  accordingly,  in  1752, 
at  the  expiration  of  this  period,  a  royal  government  was  estab 
lished  similar  to  that  in  the  Carolinas,  which  existed  until  the 
Revolution.  Georgia  sent  no  delegates  to  the  first  Continen 
tal  Congress  ;  and  that  she  was  represented  in  the  second,  was 
owing,  I  am  led  to  conclude,  principally  to  the  zeal  and  ex 
ertions  of  Lyman  Hall,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who,  having 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  35 

graduated  at  Yale  College,  and  fitted  himself  for  the  practice 
of  medicine,  removed  to  Sunbury.  His  ardor  in  the  Whig 
cause  exposed  him  to  the  indignation  of  his  opponents,  and 
after  the  royal  army  penetrated  Georgia,  his  property  was 
seized  and  confiscated.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Zubly,  another  of  the 
delegates,  proved  himself  unworthy  of  confidence,  and  lost  his 
estate  at  the  hands  of  his  former  friends  and  associates.  To 
form  a  party  of  "liberty- men"  within  the  borders  of  Georgia, 
to  organize  this  party  and  commit  it  in  favor  of  the  "rebellion," 
which  was  fast  hastening  to  "  treason "  and  Revolution  in 
other  parts  of  the  continent,  was  attended  with  difficulty,  and 
required  time  and  labor.  But  such  a  party  finally  existed  and 
acted ;  and  the  AMERICAN  CONFEDERACY  was  thus  completed. 

Though  overrun  by  the  king's  troops,  and  governed  by 
military  law  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  war,  Georgia 
overpaid  her  quota  of  money  in  a  small  sum,  and  furnished 
2,679  men  for  the  Continental  service.  If,  then,  it  be  consid 
ered,  that  her  population  was  small,  her  resources  limited,  that 
Sir  James  Wright,  the  last  royal  governor,  was  an  able  and 
popular  man,  and  rallied  a  considerable  body  of  Loyalists,  and 
that,  in  the  course  of  events,  the  Whigs  were  compelled  to  flee 
into  the  neighboring  States  for  safety ;  her  efforts  and  sacri 
fices  are  entitled  to  commendation.* 

From  this  rapid  survey  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies,  it  has  ap 
peared  that  the  adherents  of  the  crown  were  more  numerous 

*  Georgia  was,  however,  regarded  as  highly  loyal.  One  of  the  ablest  and 
best  informed  of  the  Loyalists,  thus  speaks  :  "  Georgia  had  not  only  been 
recovered  out  of  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  in  1779,  but  the  province  was 
put  at  the  peace  of  the  king  by  his  Majesty's  Commissioners,  and  the  king's 
civil  government  restored,  and  all  the  loyal  inhabitants  required  by  proclama 
tion  to  return  to  their  settlements,  and  an  Assembly  called,  and  actually  sub 
sisting,  and  all  the  civil  officers  in  the  exercise  of  their  functions,  when 
orders  came  in  1782,  to  evacuate  the  country,  and  deliver  it  up  to  the  rebels, 
which  was  done  accordingly,  without  any  stipulation  in  favor  of  the  attainted 
Loyalists,  or  their  confiscated  properties,  although  the  rebel  force  in  that 
country  was  so  inconsiderable,  that  the  Loyalists  offered  to  the  king's  general 
to  preserve  the  province  for  his  Majesty,  if  he  would  leave  them  a  single  egi 
ment  of  foot,  and  the  "  Georgia  Rangers,"  to  assist  them." 


36  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

at  the  South,  and  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  than  in 
New  England.  Neither  in  the  regulations  of  the  crown,  nor 
in  the  enactments  of  parliament,  had  there  been  much  either 
to  offend  the  feelings  or  check  the  industry  of  the  planters  and 
agriculturists.  Towards  the  Colonies  that  sold  raw  produce, 
the  policy  of  the  mother  country  had  been  mild,  perhaps  lib 
eral.  They  were  the  Round-heads,  and  not  the  Cavaliers, 
who  met  her  upon  the  ocean  and  in  the  work-shop ;  hence, 
it  was  to  them  that  she  showed  the  most  odious  features  of 
the  Colonial  system.  But  taunted,  for  a  century  and  a  half, 
with  the  heresy  of  their  faith,  and  impeded  in  all  their  enter 
prises  ever  after  the  death  of  Cromwell,  the  people  of  the 
North  were  driven  to  invoke  the  sympathy  of  their  Colonial 
brethren  whose  religion  and  pursuits  had  been  the  more  fa 
vored  objects  of  her  regard ;  and  when  their  joint  appeals  to 
her  justice  and  magnanimity  failed  to  shake  her  purposes,  then, 
by  the  union  of  counsel,  arms,  and  effort,  all  the  Colonies 
together  broke  from  her  dominion.  If,  therefore,  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  had  its  origin  in  a  long  course  of  aggression 
upon  the  rights  of  the  North,  its  successful  issue  was  due  in 
some  measure  to  the  more  meritorious,  because  more  disinter 
ested,  exertions  of  the  South.  If,  too,  this  course  of  aggression 
gradually  diffused  a  spirit  of  resistance  throughout  the  coun 
try,  so  that  Episcopal  and  monarchical  Virginia  at  last  furnished 
a  commander  for  the  Puritan  and  republican  soldiers  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  the  conclusion  becomes  irresistible,  that  the  wrongs 
which  united  men  of  so  different  characters  and  pursuits,  were 
far  too  deep  and  grave  to  be  excused  or  extenuated. 

We  enter  now  upon  a  brief  inquiry  to  show  the  divisions  in 
the  different  classes  and  avocations  of  Colonial  society.  And 
first,  those  who  held  office.  Nearly  all  the  officials  of  all 
grades  adhered  to  the  crown.  This  was  to  have  been  expect 
ed.  Men  who  lived  in  ease,  who  enjoyed  all  the  considerations 
and  deference  which  rank  and  station  invariably  confer,  and 
especially  in  monarchies,  and  who,  therefore,  had  nothing  to 
gain,  but  much  to  lose,  by  a  change,  viewed  the  dissensions 
that  arose  between  themselves  and  the  people,  in  a  light  which 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  37 

allowed  their  self-love  and  their  self-interest  to  have  full  play. 
"  They  were  appointed  and  sworn  to  execute  the  laws,  and  in 
obeying  the  instructions  of  the  ministry  at  home  to  enforce 
the  statutes  of  the  realm,  they  did  but  perform  common  acts 
of  duty."     These  were  the  arguments,  and  they  were  neither 
the  first  nor  the  last  persons  in  office  who  have  reasoned  in  the 
same  manner,  and  who  have  kept  their  places  at  the  expense 
of  their  patriotism.     Besides,   they  affected  to  believe,  that  the 
Whig  leaders  were  mere  needy  office-hunters,  and  that  the  con-/ 
tests  between  them  were  in  some  measure  personal.     The  de 
scendants  of  Loyalists,  whose  homes  are  across  our  northeastern 
border,  in  conversations  with  citizens  of  the  republic,  continue 
to  repeat  the  tale.     They  have  been  answered,  that,  were  the 
charge  true,  our  fathers  were  still  the  more  patriotic  of  the  two: 
since,  upon  this  issue,  it  would  seem  that  theirs,  who  were  the 
fat  and  sleek  possessors,  would  not  give  up  the  much  coveted 
stations  to  the  lean  and  hungry  expectants  and  claimants,  even 
to  preserve  the  British  empire  from  dismemberment.     They 
have  been  answered  farther,  that  they  derive  no  benefit  from 
the  averment,  even  though  Washington,  and  John  Adams,  and 
Jay,  were  just  objects  of  the  world's  scorn,  and  though  every 
associate  they  had  were  an  Arnold  in  motive,  and  for  the  ob 
vious  reason,  that  separation  from  the  mother  country  is  still 
to  be  triumphantly  defended  on  the  ground  of  absolute  neces 
sity.     For,  without  a  dissolution  of  the  connexion,  the  Saxon 
race  in  the  New  World  could  neither  have  developed  the  re 
sources  of  the  continent  they  occupied,  nor  have  become  great 
and  happy.     It  has  been  said,  too,  that  if  it  be  admitted  that 
the  younger  Otis  actually  did  vow  he  would  set  Massachusetts 
in  flames  though  he  should  perish  in  the  fire,  because  his  father 
was  not  appointed  to  a  vacant  and  promised  judgeship ;   that, 
as  has  been  alleged,  John  Adams  was  at  a  loss  which  side  to 
take,   and  became  a  "rebel,"  because  he  was  refused  a  com 
mission  in  the  peace ;  that  Samuel  Adams  was  a  defaulting 
collector  of  taxes,  and  paid  up  his  arrears  of  money,  in  abuse 
of  honest  men ;  that,  as  his  enemies  say,  Hancock  possessed 
neither  stability  nor  principle,  and  that  wounded  vanity  caused 
4 


38  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,   OR 

his  opposition  to  the  king's  servants ;  that  Joseph  Warren  was 
a  broken  man,  and  sought  amid  the  turmoils  of  civil  strife  to 
better  his  condition ;  that  Washington  was  soured  because  he 
was  not  retained  in  the  British  army,  in  reward  for  his  services 
in  the  French  war;  that  the  Lees  were  all  unsound  men,  and 
that  Richard  Henry  was  disappointed   in   not  receiving  the 
office  of  stamp  distributor,  which  he  solicited ;  that  Franklin 
was  vexed  at  the  opposition  to  his  great  land-projects  and  plans 
for  settlements  on  the  Ohio ;  and  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
prominent  Whigs  of  every  Colony  were  young  men  who  had 
their  furtunes  to  make,  and  distinction  to  win ;  that,  if  all  this 
be  admitted,  what  then  ?     The  argument  is  as  two  edged  as 
at  the  first,  and  though  it  be  granted  that  one  side  of  the  blade 
wounds  the  Whigs,  the  other  still  cuts  deep  the  Tories.     For, 
upon  this  ground  it  ,may  be  asked,  what  claim  to  perpetuity 
had  the  institutions  which  denied  to  a  man  like  John  Adams 
the  humble  place  of  a  justice  of  the   peace;  and  to  George 
Washington,  an  opportunity  to  display  his  qualities  of  character 
on  the  great  field  which  the  Being  who  made  him  intended  for 
him?     And  if  the  thought  ever  obtruded  itself  upon  John  Mar 
shall,  that  by  living  and  dying  a  Colonist,  he  should  live  and  die 
undistinguished  and  without  leaving  his  name  in  his  country's 
annals,  I  know  not  that  the  emotion  was  blameable.    The  des 
tiny  marked  out  for  him,  was  to  found  the  jurisprudence  of  a 
NATION  ;    and  has  the  world  been  the  loser  because  he  ful 
filled  it? 

The  children  of  the  Loyalists,  though  thus  met,  complain 
because  the  offices  at  the  close  of  the  conflict  passed  from 
the  "old  families"  into  the  hands  of  "upstarts."  It  has  been 
replied  to  this,  that,  revolution  or  no  revolution,  it  was  high 
time  the  persons  stigmatized  as  "  upstarts,"  had  a  share  of 
the  royal  patronage ;  first,  to  break  up  the  practice  of  bestow 
ing  upon  the  son,  however  unworthy  or  incompetent,  the 
place  held  by  the  father ;  and  secondly,  to  introduce  faithful 
ness  and  responsibility,  and  to  dismiss  arrogant  and  disobliging 
incumbents. 

The  allegations  thus    noticed,  are  proved,   as   those   who 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  39 

make  them  sagely  imagine,  by  the  fact,  that  the  Whigs,  at  the 
peace,  received  the  executive  chairs  of  the  several  States, 
the  judgeships,  the  collectorships,  the  great  law  offices,  and 
other  public  situations,  previously  held  by  their  opponents. 
This  argument  is  sufficient  to  disturb  the  gravity  of  a  man 
who  never  smiled  in  his  life ;  and  yet  it  is  sometimes  soberly 
urged  by  the  intelligent  and  well  informed,  and  enforced  in 
strong  and  impassioned  tones. 

But,  it  is  time  to  inquire,  what  became  of  the  office-holders 
whom  the  Revolution  expelled?  Did  they,  did  the  adherents 
of  the  crown,  generally,  evince  an  unconquerable  aversion  to 
public  employment,  after  their  retirement  or  banishment  from 
the  United  States?  The  answer  to  these  questions  will  be 
found  in  these  pages.  It  will  be  seen,  that  they  not  only  filled 
all  the  principal  offices  in  the  present  British  Colonies,  but 
that  their  places  descended  to,  and  are  now  occupied  by  their 
sons,  connexions,  and  relatives.  In  no  point  of  view,  then, 
are  the  Loyalists  entitled  to  become  the  accusers  of  the  Whigs; 
since  it  is  the  innocent  only  who  can  properly  cast  stones  at 
the  offending  or  the  faulty.  Nor  is  it  to  be  overlooked,  that 
offices  under  the  British  crown  are,  in  many  respects,  of  the 
nature  of  life-estates  or  life  annuities,  since  the  practice  which 
prevailed  in  the  "  old  thirteen,"  of  perpetuating  official  dis 
tinctions  in  families,  still  continues  to  a  very  great  extent,  since 
the  term  "  Family  Compact,"  in  Colonial  politics,  has  refer 
ence  to  this  fact,  and  since,  too,  while  places  are  not  thus  lost 
and  won  at  every  turn  of  the  political  wheel  as  with  us,  the 
salaries,  fees,  and  emoluments  are  much  greater  than  are  paid 
either  under  our  State  or  national  governments.  Collectors  of 
the  customs,  judges  of  courts,  treasurers,  attornies  and  solici 
tors  general,  in  British  America,  for  example,  commonly 
receive  double  the  sums  for  their  services,  that  are  allowed  to 
officers  of  the  same  names  and  duties  in  the  United  States ; 
and  several  Colonial  chief-justices  enjoy  larger  official  incomes 
than  any  member  of  our  highest  Federal  Court.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  our  being  compelled  to  defend  the  Whigs  against 
the  charge  of  undue  or  of  improper  love  of  office,  the  Loyal- 


40  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

ists,  and  those  of  their  descendants  who  repeat  their  fathers' 
accusations,  are  to  he  turned  upon  in  quiet  good  nature,  and 
to  be  put  upon  their  own  defence. 

We  pass  to  consider  the  course  pursued  by  the  commercial 
class.  The  claims  of  the  merchants  and  ship-owners  have 
never,  as  it  seems  to  me,  been  fully  or  fairly  stated.  They 
were  undoubtedly  the  first  persons  in  America,  who  set  them 
selves  in  array  against  the  measures  of  the  ministry.  The 
causes  of  their  opposition  have  already  incidentally  appeared, 
but  some  farther  notice  should  now  be  taken  of  their  efforts 
to  obtain  the  right  of  free  navigation  of  the  ocean.  Nothing 
in  my  judgment  is  clearer,  than  that  the  British  Navigation 
Act  and  the  Laws  of  Trade,  which  were  a  part  of  the  system 
it  was  meant  to  enforce,  contained  the  germs  of  the  Revolution. 
The  Stamp  Act,  and  other  statutes  of  a  kindred  nature,  have 
been  made,  I  think,  to  occupy  too  prominent  a  place  among  the 
causes  assigned  for  that  event.  The  irritation  which  the  du 
ties  on  stamps  excited  in  the  planting  Colonies,  subsided  as 
soon  as  the  law  which  imposed  them  was  repealed;  and  I  sub 
mit,  that,  but  for  the  policy  which  oppressed  the  commerce  and 
inhibited  the  use  of  the  water-falls  of  New  England,  the 
"  dispute  "  between  the  mother  and  her  children  would  have 
been  "  left,"  as  Washington  breathed  a  wish  that  it  might  be, 
"  to  posterity  to  determine." 

While  Cromwell  lived,  Colonial  trade  was  free  :  but  after  his 
death,  the  maritime  interests  of  America  soon  felt  the  difference 
between  a  Puritan  and  a  Stuart.  Measures  were  taken  by 
Charles,  with  all  possible  speed,  to  restrain  and  regulate  the  in 
tercourse  of  the  Colonies  with  countries  not  in  subjection  to 
him,  and  even  that  with  England  herself.  At  the  period  when 
his  designs  were  to  be  executed,  Massachusetts,  foremost  in 
all  marine  enterprises,  not  only  traversed  the  sea  at  will,  but 
had  her  own  plan  of  revenue,  and  a  collector  of  her  customs, 
and  exacted  fees  of  vessels  arriving  at  her  ports.  The  mer 
chants  of  Boston  had  dealings  with  Spain,  France,  Portugal, 
Holland,  the  Canaries,  and  even  with  Guinea  and  Madagascar, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  41 

and  had  accumulated  considerable  wealth.*  The  trade  of 
Connecticut,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  other  Colonies,  was  small 
and  limited.  But  as  a  commercial  spirit  existed  everywhere, 
and  as  every  Colony  had  some  share  in  the  traffic  which  was 
to  be  checked,  or,  if  possible,  to  be  entirely  broken  up,  none 
were  disposed  to  submit  quietly  to  the  measures  which  were 
meant  to  effect  either  of  these  purposes.  When,  then,  the 
royal  collectors  of  the  customs  came  over  from  England,  to 
carry  out  the  will  of  their  sovereign,  they  were  met  with  re 
sistance  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other. 

Edward  Randolph,  who  was  commissioned  to  be  the  first 
collector,  surveyor  and  searcher  of  Massachusetts  and  of  all 
New  England,  landed  at  Boston  in  1679.  He  was  directed  to 
fix  his  own  residence  at  that  port,  and  to  appoint  at  least  one 
deputy  in  the  "Colonyes  of  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  Rhode 
Island,  the  Province  of  Mayne,  and  New  Hampshire."  His 
instructions  were  tediously  minute,  arid  were  arranged  under 
nineteen  distinct  heads.  They  were  evidently  framed  by  one 
who  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  course  of  Colonial 
trade,  and  the  offences  for  which,  in  executing  them,  he  might 
seize  vessels  and  cargoes,  were  very  numerous.-)-  He  was 

*  Josselyn,  who  was  in  Massachusetts  at  this  period,  says  that  some  mer 
chants  were  "  damnable  rich,"  and  Dunton,  who  followed  a  few  years  after, 
speaks  of  a  lady  who  came  over  from  England,  "  with  the  valuable  venture 
of  her  beautiful  person,  which  went  off  at  an  extraordinary  rate,  she  marry 
ing  a  merchant  in  Salem  worth  nearly  thirty  thousand  pound."  Between 
the  visits  of  these  quaint  chroniclers,  the  commissioneis  of  Charles  had  come 
on  their  inglorious  errand,  and  had  made  a  report  of  the  extent  of  the  trade 
which  was  now  by  statute  illicit,  and  in  following  which,  the  Colonists  had  ac 
quired  a  knowledge  of  different  parts  of  the  woild,  and  bettered  their  own 
condition. 

f  These  instructions  were  dated  from  the  "  Custom-house,  London,  July 
9,  1678,"  and  affixed  to  them  are  the  signatures  of  Ed.  Bering,  Ch.  Cheyne, 
and  G.  Downing,  and  they  were  probably  framed  by  the  latter.  Sir  George 
Downing  was  a  resident  of  Salem,  Mass.,  for  some  time,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  first  class  that  graduated  at  Harvard  University.  It  is  supposed  that 
he  devised  the  British  Navigation  Act,  though  St.  John,  another  statesman 
of  Cromwell's  time,  is  a  rival  claimant  in  the  apprehension  of  Mr.  Bancroft. 
Sir  George  Downing  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  talents,  and  possessed  a  con- 

4* 


42  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  OR 

furnished,  also,  with  the  several  acts  of  Parliament  which  re 
lated  to  the  objects  of  his  mission,  and  with  such  other  doc 
uments  as  were  deemed  necessary.  Thus  armed,  he  opened 
his  office  *  among  the  Roundheads  of  Boston.  He  was 
a  doomed  man  before  his  arrival.  Determined  upon  success, 
he  made  eight  voyages  to  and  from  America  in  the  nine  years 
which  connect  his  name  with  our  annals.  But  from  the  first 
to  the  last  of  his  career,  he  was  treated  with  aversion  and  con 
tempt.  The  merchants  determined  that  he  should  not  break 
up  their  intercourse  with  places  interdicted  by  the  Navigation 
Act,  and  the  vessels  which  were  seized  by  him  and  his  depu 
ties  were  rescued,  and  sent  upon  the  voyages  which  their  own 
ers  had  designed  them  to  make,  though  liable  to  re-seizure 
upon  their  return  to  America.  If  he  carried  his  complaints  to 
the  Colonial  courts,  he  obtained  no  redress,  but  on  the  other 
hand,  both  he  and  his  subordinates  were  fined  for  their  official 
zeal.  In  a  word,  after  enduring  every  indignity,  Randolph 
himself  was  imprisoned.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  Clarendon,  writ 
ten  from  Boston  in  1682,  he  says :  "I  humbly  beseech  your 
Lordship,  that  I  may  have  consideration  for  all  my  losses  and 
money  laid  out  in  prosecuting  seizures  here."  The  same  year 
he  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  London:  "I  have  a  great  fammyly 
to  mayntayne,  have  great  losses  and  expences  about  his  Ma 
jesties  service  here."  To  a  Mr.  Povey,  in  1687,  he  says  :  "I 
am  at  £50  a  year  charge  to  keep  an  able  clerke.  and  cannot 


trolling  influence,  after  his  removal  from  America,  in  the  councils  of  the  Pro 
tector.  Yet,  New  England,  at  most,  owes  his  memory  nothing  but  silence. 
Her  strong  men  of  the  revolutionary  era  regarded  it  with  utter  detestation. 
His  name  to  them  was  identified  with  a  measure,  which,  whether  he  designed 
it  so  or  not,  wronged  his  native  country,  until  she  acquired  strength  to  resist 
and  overturn  it.  He  died  in  1684,  near  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
Second. 

*  The  custom-house,  which  Randolph  occupied  in  Boston,  stood  on  the 
water's  edge  at  the  corner  of  Richmond  and  Ann  streets.  I  suppose  that 
it  was  the  first  building  erected  for  collecting  the  King's  duties  in  America. 
It  was  of  wood,  and  was  not  taken  down  until  October,  1846,  when  many 
parts  of  the  frame  were  found  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  43 

get  any  fees  settled  sufficient  to  pay  that  charge."  In  a  letter 
dated  from  the  "  Gaol  in  Boston,"  to  the  governor  of  Barba- 
does,  he  thus  writes:  "  The  country  is  poor,  the  exact  execu 
tion  of  the  acts  of  trade  hath  much  impoverished  them ;  all 
the  blame  lyes  upon  me,  who  first  attacked,  and  then  overthrew 
their  charter,  and  was  the  officer  to  continue  their  Egyptian 
servitude,  by  my  office  of  collector"  Again,  and  from  his  dun 
geon,  he  implored  Cooke,  his  old  enemy,  to  take  from  his 
apartment  a  wounded  fellow-prisoner,  whose  sores  had  become 
insupportably  offensive. 

Such  was  the  treatment  and  the  fate  of  the  first  emissary 
of  the  British  crown  to  New  England,  who  was  sent  upon  the 
inglorious  errand  of  restraining  her  commerce,  and  of  contin 
uing,  by  Randolph's  own  admission  in  the  hour  of  his  humili 
ation,  her  "  Egyptian  servitude." 

The  collectors,  who  were  appointed  to  the  other  parts  of  the 
country,  were  received  hardly  more  kindly.  The  " Assemblies  " 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland  recognised  those  sent  to  them  as 
"legal  officers,"  but  difficulties  arose  in  both  Colonies,  though 
neither  of  them  possessed  a  considerable  town  or  mart  of  trade. 
In  the  former,  earnest  complaints  were  made  against  the  Act 
of  Navigation,  and  the  restraints  imposed  upon  commerce 
generally.  In  Bacon's  harangues  to  the  people,  these  topics 
were  not  forgotten ;  and  one  of  the  objects  to  be  gained  by 
those  who  followed  him  into  open  rebellion  was  to  "  build  ships, 
and,  like  New  England,  to  trade  to  any  part  of  the  world." 
Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  seven  collectors  and  naval 
officers,*  all  of  whom  were  members  of  Andres's  council, 
were  stationed  in  different  parts  of  the  Colony,  and,  in  form 

*  Ralph  Wormley,  secretary,  collector,  and  naval  officer  of  Rappahannock 
River.  Colonel  Richard  Lee,  collector  and  naval  officer  of  the  upper  district 
of  Potomac  River.  Colonel  Christopher  Wormley,  collector  and  naval  officer, 
lower  district  of  Potomac  River.  Colonel  Edward  Hill,  collector  and  naval 
officer  of  upper  district  of  James  River.  Colonel  Edmund  Jennings,  collector 
and  naval  officer  of  York  River.  Colonel  Daniel  Park,  collector  and  naval 
officer  of  lower  district  of  James  River.  Colonel  Charles  Scarborough,  collector 
and  naval  officer  on  the  Eastern  Shores. 


44  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,  OR 

at  least,  the  Navigation  Act  and  the  kindred  laws  were  after 
wards  observed.  But  though  the  declaration,  that  Virginia 
had  long  acquiesced  in  the  acts  restrictive  of  her  commerce, 
occurs  in  her  instructions  to  her  delegates  to  the  first  Conti 
nental  Congress,  I  very  much  doubt,  whether  the  submission 
was  more  than  nominal,  or  much  as  it  was  in  other  Colonies, 
since  there  is  evidence  to  show,  that  many  of  the  king's  reve 
nue  officers  were  themselves  great  traffickers,  and  were  quite  as 
unscrupulous  as  others  who  bought,  sold,  and  shipped  com 
modities. 

So  in  Maryland,  there  was  a  strenuous  opposition  to  the 
establishment  of  a  custom-house,  and  to  the  presence  of  a  col 
lector.  In  the  controversy,  mobs  and  riots,  which  succeeded 
the  attempt,  Lord  Baltimore  became  involved  in  great  difficul 
ties,  by. which  his  chartered  rights  were  endangered;  and 
Rousby,  the  collector,  was  killed.  In  North  Carolina,  the  en 
deavor  of  the  king's  officer  to  promote  a  more  lawful  trade, 
and  the  dispute  with  a  New  England  trader  as  to  the  entry  of 
a  vessel  at  the  custom-house,  and  the  payment  of  duties,  was 
one  of  the  causes  of  an  insurrection,  which  resulted  in  depo 
sing  and  imprisoning  Miller,  the  collector.  In  South  Carolina, 
illicit  traffic  continued  to  be  carried  on,  notwithstanding  the 
exertions  of  Muschamp,  the  royal  officer  of  the  customs ;  and 
great  tumult  and  disorder  were  created  by  his  attempts  to  sup 
press  it.  In  New  York,  Dyer,  the  Duke  of  York's  collector, 
was  indicted  for  performing  his  official  acts ;  and  the  memo 
rable  rebellion  a  few  years  afterwards,  promoted  by  Leisler, — 
a  wealthy  merchant,  who  owned  ships  which  he  sent  to  Eu 
rope,  and  who  lost  his  life  on  the  restoration  of  the  lawful 
government,  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  subverting  it, —  orig 
inated  partly  in  the  disputes  that  arose  with  the  principal 
officers  of  the  revenue.  In  New  Jersey,  the  collector  was 
thwarted  by  the  people  who  formed  the  juries,  when  prosecu 
tions  were  commenced  against  smugglers ;  while  the  quarrels 
between  the  officers  of  that  Colony  and  New  York,  as  to  the 
rights  of  entering  and  clearing  vessels,  added  to  the  disturb 
ances  ;  and  the  seizures  and  condemnations  which  followed 
produced  great  commotion. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  45 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  first  effort  to  fasten  upon  the 
Colonial  merchants  and  ship-owners  the  Navigation  Act  and 
Laws  of  Trade.  After  this  signal  failure,  all  further  and  se 
rious  endeavors  to  arrest  the  course  or  restrain  the  limits  of 
their  maritime  enterprises  were  discontinued  for  nearly  a  cen 
tury.  Collectors  of  the  customs  were,  however,  continued  at 
all  the  principal  ports,  but  they  seldom  interfered  to  trouble 
those  who  embarked  in  unlawful  adventures,  and  such  adven 
tures  were  finally  undertaken  without  fear,  and  almost  with 
out  hazard.  In  truth,  the  commerce  of  America  was  prac 
tically  free.  Some  merchants  "  smuggled "  whole  cargoes 
outright;  others  paid  the  king's  duty  on  a  part,  gave  "hush- 
money"  to  the  under-officers  of  the  customs,  and  "run"  the 
balance. 

Suddenly,  and  without  warning,  there  came  a  change.  The 
year  1761  was  filled  with  events  of  momentous  consequence. 
We  find  the  merchants  of  the  ports  of  New  England,  and  es 
pecially  those  of  Boston  and  Salem,  deeply  exasperated  by 
the  attempts  of  the  revenue  officers,  under  fresh  and  peremp 
tory  orders,  to  exact  strict  observance  of  the  laws  of  naviga 
tion  and  trade ;  and,  by  a  pretension  set  up  under  these  in 
structions,  to  enter  and  search  places  suspected  of  containing 
smuggled  goods.  To  submit  to  this  pretension,  was  to  surren 
der  the  quiet  of  their  homes  and  the  order  of  their  ware 
houses  to  the  underlings  of  the  government,  and  the  property 
which  they  held  to  the  rapacity  of  informers,  whose  gains 
would  be  in  proportion  to  their  wickedness.  Those,  therefore, 
of  the  two  principal  towns  of  Massachusetts,  who  were  inter 
ested  in  continuing  the  business  which  they  had  long  pursued 
without  molestation,  and  under  a  sort  of  prescriptive  right, 
and  in  preserving  their  property  from  the  grasp  of  pimps  and 
spies,  determined  to  withstand  the  crown-officers,  and  to  ap 
peal  to  the  tribunals  for  protection  against  their  claims.  James 
Otis  threw  up  an  honorable  and  profitable  station  to  become 
their  advocate,  and  by  his  plea  in  their  behalf,  he  became  also 
the  first  champion  of  the  Revolution. 

From  this  period  until   the   commencement  of  hostilities, 


46  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  OR 

there  was  no  season  of  quiet  in  either  of  the  Colonies  which 
depended  upon  maritime  pursuits ;  and  in  Massachusetts,  the 
scenes  of  tumult,  and  wild  commotion  which  occurred,  were  the 
prelude  of  open  war.  The  nine  years  which  preceded  the  affray, 
—  absurdly  called  the  "Boston  Massacre,"  —  were  crowded 
with  acts,  which  show  to  what  extent  the  quarrels  had  spread, 
and  what  strength  the  popular  wrath  had  attained.  The  re 
vision  of  the  "Sugar  Act,"  and  the  exertions  to  carry  out  its 
new  provisions,  aided,  as  the  revenue  officers  now  were,  by 
ships  of  war  and  an  increase  of  their  own  corps,  carried  con 
sternation  to  every  fire-side  in  the  North.  In  New  Hampshire, 
Maine,  and  Rhode  Island,  there  were  mobs  and  collisions,  and 
seizures  and  rescues  of  vessels  and  merchandise.  In  Massa 
chusetts,  were  the  seizure  and  rescue,  and  the  re-seizure  of  some 
molasses  on  the  Taunton  river ;  the  resolution  to  stop  the  im 
portations  of  goods  from  England ;  the  bringing  to  of  ships, 
and  the  tumbling  of  cargoes  overboard  all  along  the  coast; 
the  condemnation  of  one  ship  with  her  cargo  of  French  wines, 
and  of  another  which  had  made  an  illegal  voyage  from  Hol 
land  ;  the  suits  in  admiralty  against  the  merchants  who  traded 
to  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies,  for  the  old  offences  of 
compounding  duties  with  the  officers,  for  entering  the  molasses 
of  these  islands  as  of  the  growth  of  Anquilla,  and  for  smug 
gling  it  outright ;  the  appeal  of  the  ship-owners  to  the  ministry 
to  be  released  from  the  harpies  that  robbed  them  of  their  goods, 
and  made  prize  of  their  vessels ;  the  landing  of  the  cargo  of 
wines  under  the  guard  of  men  armed  with  bludgeons ;  the 
seizure  of  Hancock's  goods  and  the  vessel  that  brought  them ; 
the  driving  of  the  collector  and  comptroller  of  the  customs  on 
board  of  a  man-of-war,  and  within  the  walls  of  "Castle  Wil 
liam;"  the  dragging  of  the  revenue-boat  through  the  streets, 
and  the  burning  of  it  on  the  "Common;"  the  mobs  that  de 
manded  the  resignation  of  one  obnoxious  officer,  stripped,  and 
tarred  and  feathered  another ;  and  that  broke  windows,  demol 
ished  furniture,  and  destroyed  buildings. 

Another  step  in  the  controversy,  and  we  stand  beside  the 
"  tea-ships."     I  have  no  space  to  discuss  the  question  of  the 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  47 

"  three-pence  the  pound  duty  on  tea,"  but  I  must  enter  my 
dissent  from  the  common  view  of  it.  To  me,  it  was  not,  as  it 
has  been  regarded,  a  question  of  "taxation"  but  essentially, 
like  all  the  others  between  the  merchants  and  the  crown,  one 
of  commerce.  The  statements  of  Hutchinson,  the  debates  in 
Parliament,  and  the  state-papers  and  the  documents  which  I 
have  examined,  all  go  to  prove  that  the  object  of  the  mother 
country  was  mainly  to  break  up  the  contraband  trade  of  the 
Colonial  merchants  with  Holland  and  her  possessions,  and  to 
give  to  her  own  East  India  Company  the  supply  of  the  Colo 
nial  markets.  The  value  of  the  tea  consumed  in  America 
was  estimated  at  £300,000  annually.  Nearly  the  whole  quan 
tity  was  "smuggled."  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Massa 
chusetts,  were  the  great  marts.  The  risk  of  seizure  for  many 
years  was  small ;  and  it  is  said,  that,  at  one  period,  not  one 
chest  in  five  hundred  of  that  which  was  landed  in  Boston,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  customs.  Some  of  the 
merchants  of  that  town  had  become  rich  in  the  traffic,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  large  fortune  which  Hancock  inherited 
from  his  uncle,*  was  thus  acquired. 

The  plan  of  the  East  India  Company,  backed  by  the  minis 
try,  was  shrewd,  and,  if  it  had  been  executed,  would  have 
forced  the  merchants  to  abandon  the  contraband  trade,  and 
have  given  the  Company  the  business  at  which  they  grasped ; 
since  their  tea  was  considered  to  be  of  better  quality  than 
the  smuggled,  and  if  afforded  at  as  low  a  price,  would  have 
had  the  preference  with  consumers.  The  change  of  policy, 
then,  which  encountered  such  fearful  opposition,  and  which 
reduced  the  duty  from  a  shilling  the  pound  payable  in  Eng 
land,  to  "  three-pence  "  payable  in  the  ports  to  which  it  should 
be  exported  from  the  Company's  warehouses,  allowed  the 
article  to  be  sold  in  America  nine-pence  the  pound  cheaper 
than  it  had  been  afforded  under  the  old  rate  of  duty,  while,  by 
securing  the  market,  it  at  the  same  time  secured  a  revenue  on 

*  Thomas  Hancock's  plan  of  smuggling,  was  to  put  his  tea  in  molasses- 
hogsheads,  and  thus  "  run  "  it,  or  import  it  without  payment  of  duties. 


48 

whatever  quantity  might  actually  be  entered  at  the  Colonial 
custom-houses.  This,  as  I  understand  the  plan,  was  the  whole 
of  it;  and  it  is  pertinent  to  remark,  that,  if  the  "tax"  had 
really  been  its  objectionable  feature,  it  is  singular  that  no 
clamor  was  raised  while  the  duty  was  four  times  "  three-pence" 
the  pound.  At  that  rate,  Whig  merchants,  as  well  as  others, 
had  made  small  importations  from  England,  in  order  "  to 
cover"  the  larger  and  illicit  importations  from  Holland  and 
her  dependencies.  It  is  equally  pertinent  to  observe,  that  the 
English  merchants,  who  sent  tea  to  parts  of  America  where 
the  contraband  trade  was  less  extensively  pursued,  were  as 
hostile  to  a  measure  which  threatened  them  with  the  loss  of 
their  customers,  as  were  their  commercial  brethren  in  the  Colo 
nies,  who  were  to  be  sufferers  from  the  same  cause. 

The  "tea"  which  came  charged  with  "three-pence"  duty 
payable  on  being  landed,  was  disposed  of  in  various  ways. 
As  a  punishment  for  the  destruction  of  that  sent  to  Boston, 
that  port  was  shut  up,  and  its  commerce  thus  struck  down  at 
a  blow.  The  cutting  off  the  fisheries,  which  were  then  the 
very  life-blood  of  New  England,  soon  followed  the  passage  of 
the  "  Boston  Port  Bill,"  and  was  the  crowning  act  of  the  policy 
which  produced  an  appeal  to  arms.  When  the  tidings  that  no 
vessels  could  now  enter  or  leave  the  harbor  of  the  capital  of 
the  North  spread  through  the  land,  the  cry  that  "Boston  is 
suffering  in  the  cause  which  henceforth  interests  all  America," 
rose  spontaneously.  Public  meetings  were  held  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  People  met  in  the  open  air,  in  churches,  and 
court-houses,  to  express  their  horror  of  the  oppressors,  and 
their  sympathy  with  the  oppressed.  I  have  examined  the  pro 
ceedings  of  no  less  than  sixty-seven  of  these  meetings,  of 
which  twenty-seven  were  held  in  Virginia,  and  all  but  one  in 
places  south  of  New  England.  The  day  that  the  Port  Bill 
went  into  operation  was  one  of  gloom  and  sadness  everywhere ; 
and  the  predictions,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  that  it  would 
produce  a  general  confederation,  and  end  in  a  general  revolt, 
were  of  rapid  fulfilment. 

In  their  opposition  to   the  Navigation  Act  and  Laws  of 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  49 

Trade,  the  merchants  and  ship-owners  were  entirely  right. 
Obedience  to  humane  laws  is  due  from  every  member  of  the 
community.  But  the  barbarous  code  of  commercial  law, 
which  disgraced  the  statute  book  of  England  for  the  exact 
century  which  intervened  between  the  introduction  and  expul 
sion  of  her  Colonial  collectors  and  other  officers  of  the  cus 
toms,  was  entitled  to  no  respect  whatever.  Separation  from 
her  would  have  followed  as  certainly  in  1676,  when  the  first 
attempt  was  made  to  fix  this  code  upon  America,  as  in  1776, 
when  the  experiment  failed  a  second  time,  if  there  had  been 
at  the  one  period,  the  same  strength  and  concert,  the  same 
deeply-seated  irritation,  and  the  same  aid  from  the  state  of 
English  and  European  politics,  as  existed  at  the  other.  There 
never  was  a  moment,  early  or  late,  when  the  maritime  Colo 
nies  would  have  submitted  willingly  to  the  requirements  of 
these  statutes,  or  have  submitted  to  them  at  all  without  the 
use  of  force.  And  whoever  carefully  traces  the  course  of 
events,  for  the  fifteen  years  immediately  following  the  year 
first  above  mentioned,  will  discover  a  most  striking  resem 
blance  to  those  which  occurred  between  1761  and  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

This  commercial  code  was  so  stern  and  cruel,  that  an  Amer 
ican  merchant  was  compelled  to  evade  a  law  of  the  realm,  in 
order  to  give  a  sick  neighbor  an  orange  or  cordial  of  European 
origin,  or  else  obtain  them  legally,  loaded  with  the  time,  risk, 
and  expense  of  a  voyage  from  the  place  of  growth  or  manu 
facture  to  England,  and  thence  to  his  own  warehouse.  An 
American  ship-owner  or  ship-master,  when  wrecked  on  the 
coast  of  Ireland,  was  not  allowed  to  unlade  his  cargo  on  the 
shore  where  his  vessel  was  stranded,  but  was  required  to  send 
his  merchandise  to  England,  when,  if  originally  destined  for, 
or  wanted  in,  the  Irish  market,  an  English  vessel  might  carry 
it  thither.  At  the  North,  a  market  for  all  the  dried  fish  which 
were  caught  was  indispensable  to  the  prosecution  of  the  fish 
eries.  But  the  policy  of  the  mother  country  provided  penalties, 
and  the  confiscation  of  vessel  and  cargo,  for  a  sale  of  such 
proportion  of  the  annual  "  catch,"  as  was  unfit  for  her  own 
5 


50  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

ports,  or  was  not  wanted  in  her  own  possessions  in  the  Carib 
bean  sea,  if  carried  to  the  islands  which  owned  subjection  to 
France  or  Spain.  These  were  some  of  the  features  of  the 
odious  system  which  prevailed,  'and  which  was  never  abol 
ished,  until  American  vessels  went  out  upon  the  ocean  under 
a  new  flag. 

There  can  be  but  little  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  great 
body  of  the  merchants  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies  were  Whigs ; 
that  fourteen,*  or  just  one  fourth,  of  the  signers  of  the  Decla 
ration  of  Independence,  and  that  several  of  the  generals,  and 
other  officers  of  the  Continental  army,  were  men  bred  to,  or 
engaged  in,  commerce,  or  the  command  of  ships.  No  class  of 
the  British  subjects  in  America  were  so  cruelly  oppressed,  no 
class  did  more  to  emancipate  their  country.  Yet  it  will  be 
found,  that  in  every  principal  town  there  were  merchants 
who  adhered  to  the  crown.  Many  of  these  persons,  however, 
were  natives  of  the  British  Isles,  who  had  come  to  the  Colonies 
with  the  design  of  accumulating  fortunes,  and  of  returning,  or 
those  whom  the  functionaries  of  the  crown  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  favoring  with  government  contracts,  those  who  had 
been  selected  as  the  East  India  Company's  agents  or  con 
signees  of  tea,  or  those  who  had  been  elevated  to  seats  in  the 
Colonial  councils. 

JT  Our  attention,  now,  will  be  directed  to  the  professional 
classes.  It  has  often  been  asserted,  that  nearly  all  the  clergy 
were  Whigs.  The  truth  of  this  may  admit  of  a  doubt ;  since 
most  of  those  of  the  Episcopal  faith  not  only  espoused  the  ad 
verse  side,  but  abandoned  their  flocks  and  the  country.  This 
was  especially  the  case  in  New  England ;  and  Dr.  Parker  of 
Trinity  Church,  Boston,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGilchrist  of  Salem, 
were,  I  think,  the  only  clergymen  of  that  communion,  who 
stood  by  the  people  of  their  charge,  and  saved  them  from  dis- 


*  John  Hancock,  John  Langdon,  Samuel  Adams,  William  Whipple, 
George  Clymer,  Stephen  Hopkins,  Francis  Lewis,  Philip  Livingston,  El- 
bridge  Gerry,  Joseph  Hewes,  George  Taylor,  Roger  Sherman,  Button  Gwin- 
nett,  and  Robert  Morris. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  51 

persion.  I  need  not  say,  that,  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution, 
the  clergy  possessed  vast  influence.  In  the  early  settlement  of 
the  country,  as  is  well  known,  the  duty  of  the  ministers  was 
not  confined  to  instructions  in  things  spiritual,  but  embraced 
matters  of  temporal  concern,  and  on  questions  of  pressing 
public  exigency,  their  counsel  and  advice  were  eagerly  sought 
and  implicitly  followed.  This  deference  to  their  office  and  to 
their  real  or  supposed  wisdom,  though  less  general  than  at 
former  periods,  had  not  ceased;  and  clergymen,  both  Whigs 
and  Tories,  often  made  a  recruiting  house  of  the  sanctuary. 
Some  of  those  of  both  parties  disregarded  the  obligations  of 
Christian  charity,  and  sacrificed  their  kindly  affections  as  men, 
in  their  earnest  appeals  from  the  pulpit.  Generally,  the  min 
ister  and  his  people  were  of  the  same  party;  but  there  were 
still  some  memorable  divisions  and  quarrels,  separations,  and 
dismissions. 

The  Sandemanians,  though  inconsiderable,  both  in  numbers 
and  influence,  were  opposed  to  the  popular  movement,  and 
gave  its  friends  no  little  trouble.  At  the  North,  the  laymen 
of  the  Episcopal  faith  were  commonly,  like  their  rectors,  Loy 
alists;  but  at  the  South  it  was  different,  and  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  Whigs  of  that  section  were  zealous  friends  of 
the  established  church. 

Many  Loyalist  clergymen  became  chaplains  of  the  corps 
which  were  raised  by  the  friends  of  the  king  in  the  different 
Colonies.  Most  of  those  who  thus  took  an  active  part  in  hos 
tile  deeds,  and  indeed  nearly  all  of  those  who  dissolved  their 
connexion  with  their  parishes,  were  proscribed  and  banished. 
When,  after  the  war,  the  statutory  prohibitions  were  either 
modified  or  repealed,  several  of  the  exiles  returned  to  their  old 
homes,  or  to  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  But  others,  and 
the  larger  proportion,  remained  abroad  and  finished  their  days 
in  banishment.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  the  towns  and 
cities  in  New  Brunswick,  which  are  now  so  well  known  to 
men  of  business  or  pleasure,  were  mere  forests,  and  without  a 
single  habitation.  The  first  ministers  of  these  places  were 
our  expatriated  countrymen.  They  lived  in  huts.  They  en- 


52  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

dured  privation  and  suffering.  As  the  country  around  them 
increased  and  prospered,  their  situation  became  comfortable, 
and  finally,  entirely  agreeable.  Several  of  them  had  large 
families.  The  sons  of  some  were  educated  to  their  own  pro 
fession,  and  succeeding  to,  now  occupy,  their  pulpits.  So,  too, 
Loyalist  clergymen  settled  in  Nova  Scotia  and  Upper  Canada, 
where,  gathering  members  of  their  old  flocks,  they  resumed 
their  clerical  duties. 

We  pass  to  members  of  the  bar.  I  incline  to  believe  that  a 
majority  of  the  lawyers  were  Whigs,  and  for  several  reasons. 
First,  because  in  the  course  of  my  researches  I  have  found  but 
comparatively  few  who  adhered  to  the  crown ;  secondly,  be 
cause  of  the  well  known  fact,  that  a  large  part  of  the  speakers 
and  advocates  on  the  popular  side  were  educated  to  the  law ; 
and  thirdly,  because  one  of  the  objects  of  the  "Stamp  Act" 
was  to  drive  from  the  profession  those  members  of  it  who  an 
noyed  the  royal  governors  and  other  officials,  and  who,  as  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Commons  said,  were  "  mere  petti 
foggers."  Besides,  many  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  on  being  re 
tained  by  the  merchants,  became  impressed  with  the  enormities 
of  the  commercial  code,  and  in  advocating  the  cause  of  clients 
who  claimed  to  continue  their  contraband  trade  on  the  ground 
of  usage  and  prescription,  they  were  impelled  to  follow  the 
example  of  Otis,  and  to  take  the  lofty  stand  that  commerce 
should  be,  and  on  principles  of  justice  really  was,  as  open 
and  as  free  to  British  subjects  in  the  New  World,  as  it  was  to 
those  in  the  Old. 

Still  the  ministry  had  their  partisans  among  the  barristers 
at  law,  and  some  of  them  were  persons  of  great  professional 
eminence.  In  fact,  the  "giants  of  the  law"  in  the  Colonies 
were  nearly  all  Loyalists.  As  in  the  case  of  the  clergy,  many 
of  them  were  driven  into  exile.  Several  entered  the  military 
service  of  the  crown,  and  raised  and  commanded  companies, 
battalions,  and  even  regiments.  At  the  peace,  a  few  returned 
to  their  former  abodes  and  pursuits ;  but  the  greater  number 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  either  in  England,  or  in 
her  present  possessions  in  America.  The  anti-revolutionary 


HTSTORICAL    ESSAY.  53 

bar  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  furnished  the  admiralty 
and  common  law  courts  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia, 
Canada,  and  the  Bermudas,  with  many  of  their  most  distin 
guished  judges. 

The  physicians  who  adhered  to  the  crown  were  numerous, 
and  the  proportion  of  Whigs  was  less  probably  in  the  profes 
sion  of  medicine  than  in  either  that  of  law  or  theology.  But 
unlike  persons  of  the  latter  callings,  most  of  the  physicians  re 
mained  in  the  country,  and  quietly  pursued  their  business. 
There  seems  to  have  been  an  understanding  that,  though  pul 
pits  should  be  closed,  and  litigation  be  suspended,  the  sick 
should  not  be  deprived  of  their  regular  and  freely  chosen  med 
ical  attendants.  I  have  been  susprised  to  find,  from  verbal 
communications  and  from  various  other  sources,  that  while  the 
"  Tory  doctors,"  were  as  zealous  and  as  fearless  in  the  expres 
sion  of  their  sentiments  as  "Tory  ministers  "  and  "Tory  barris 
ters,"  their  persons  and  property  were  generally  respected  in 
the  towns  and  villages,  where  little  or  no  regard  was  paid  to 
the  bodies  and  estates  of  gentlemen  of  the  robe  and  the  sur 
plice.  Some,  however,  were  less  fortunate,  and  the  dealings  of 
the  "  sons  of  liberty,"  were  occasionally  harsh  and  exceedingly 
vexatious.  A  few  of  the  Loyalist  physicians  were  banished ; 
others,  and  those  chiefly  who  became  surgeons  in  the  army  or 
provincial  corps,  settled  in  New  Brunswick  or  Nova  Scotia, 
where  they  resumed  practice.  Those  who  continued  in  service 
until  the  close  of  the  struggle  or  the  dissolution  of  the  corps  to 
which  they  were  attached,  were  placed  on  the  half-pay  list, 
and  enjoyed  the  annuity  allowed  to  retired  surgeons  during 
life. 

Of  the  thirty-seven  newspapers  which  were  published  in 
the  Colonies,  in  April  1775,  if  the  result  of  my  inquiries  be 
correct,  seven  or  eight  were  in  the  interest  of  the  crown,  and 
twenty-three  were  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Whigs.  Of  these 
thirty-seven,  however,  one  on  each  side  had  little  or  no  part 
in  discussing  the  great  questions  at  issue,  as  they  were  estab 
lished  only  in  the  preceding  month  of  January ;  and  of  those 
which  did  participate  in  these  discussions,  and  maintain  the 
5* 


54  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

right,  no  less  than  five  went  over  to  the  Loyalists  in  the  course 
of  the  war.  Of  the  number  first  named,  two  were  printed  in 
German,  and  one  in  German  and  English ;  and  as  another  of 
the  thirty-seven  was  commenced  in  April,  there  were,  in  fact, 
but  thirty-one  newspapers  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  at  the 
close  of  1 774  Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  strife,  printing  had 
been  confined  to  the  capitals  or  principal  towns ;  but  hostile 
deeds,  interfering  with  all  employments,  caused  the  removal  of 
some  of  the  public  journals  to  places  more  remote,  and  were 
the  means  of  interrupting,  or  wholly  discontinuing  the  publi 
cation  of  others.  Those  that  existed  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  were  very  unequally  distributed  ;  thus  Mary 
land,  Virginia,  the  two  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  taken  together, 
had  but  one  more  than  Pennsylvania,  and  but  three  more  than 
Massachusetts.  In  New  Hampshire,  the  "  Gazette "  was 
alone;  while  Rhode  Island  had  both  a  "Gazette"  and  a 
"  Mercury."  Of  the  editors  and  proprietors  who  originally 
opposed  the  right,  or  became  converts  to  the  wrong,  several 
sought  refuge  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  where  they 
established  newspapers,  and  the  first  which  were  published 
in  these  Colonies. 

From  what  has  now  been  said,  it  is  evident  that  a  very  consid 
erable  proportion  of  the  professional  and  editorial  intelligence 
and  talents  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies  was  arrayed  against  the 
popular  movement.  This  volume  contains  notices  of  upwards 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  who  were  educated  at  Har 
vard  college,  or  some  other  American  or  foreign  institution  of 
learning ;  and  could  the  whole  number  of  Loyalists  who  re 
ceived  College  honors  be  ascertained,  it  would  be  found,  pro 
bably,  that  the  list  is  far  from  being  complete.  It  was  alleged, 
however,  by  a  distinguished  adherent  of  the  crown  in  New 
Jersey,  that  "  most  of  the  colleges  had  been  the  grand  nurse 
ries  of  the  rebellion,"  and  in  a  plan  which  he  submitted  for 
the  government  of  the  Colonies  after  the  suppression  of  the 
revolt,  he  proposed  to  check  their  pernicious  influence  by  in 
troducing  several  reforms.  But  if,  in  connexion  with  the  facts 
above-named,  it  be  considered,  that  in  1761  there  were  but  six 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY. 

colleges  in  America,  and  only  nine  at  the  commencement  of 
hostilities,  we  shall  hardly  find  reason  to  believe,  that  the  loyal 
had  cause  to  complain  of  them.  It  is  said,  on  what  appears 
to  be  good  authority,  that  as  late  as  1746  there  were  but  fifteen 
liberally  educated  persons  in  the  whole  Colony  of  New  York. 
The  increase  between  that  period  and  the  Revolution  could 
not  have  been  very  considerable ;  and  of  the  number  named, 
several  were  alive  in  1776,  and  belonged  to  the  ministerial 
party.  But  whatever  was  the  relative  strength  of  the  two 
parties  in  the  single  particular  of  graduates  of  colleges,  the 
Whigs  far  exceeded  their  opponents  in  effective  writers.  Among 
the  newspaper  essayists  in  Massachusetts,  on  the  royal  side, 
were  Joseph  Green,  a  wag  and  a  wit ;  Samuel  Waterhouse, 
an  officer  of  the  customs,  who  was  stigmatized  as  the  "  most 
notorious  scribbler  and  libeller  "  of  the  time ;  Lieutenant  Gov 
ernor  Oliver ;  Jonathan  Sewall,  and  Daniel  Leonard.  The  last 
wrote  a  series  of  papers  entitled  "  Massachusettensis,"  and  had 
John  Adams  for  his  antagonist,  over  the  signature  of  "Nov- 
Anglus."  Mr.  Adams  attributed  these  papers  to  his  friend 
Sewali,  but  the  fact  that  Leonard  was  the  author  is  now  well 
established.  None  of  these  "  government-men  "  were  so  effec 
tive  as  popular  writers  as  Samuel  Adams,  and  his  single  pen 
was  probably  a  match  for  them  all.  Hutchinson  was  so  an 
noyed  by  his  peculiar  tact,  and  his  power  to  agitate  and  move 
the  public  mind  as  to  declare,  that  of  all  persons  known  to 
him,  he  was  the  most  successful  "  in  robbing  men  of  their  char 
acters."  But  besides  the  two  Adamses,  James  Otis  was  the 
author  of  four  political  tracts,  and  Oxenbridge  Thacher, 
Chauncy,  and  Cooper,  were  continually  transmitting  their 
thoughts  in  popular  forms  ;  while  Josiah  Quincy  junior,  often 
gave  his  countrymen  the  effusions  of  his  rich,  pure,  and  classical 
mind,  and  his  "  Observations  on  the  Boston  Port  Bill "  is  to 
be  regarded  not  only  as  a  clear  and  cogent  political  essay, 
but  as  a  finished  specimen  of  the  literature  of  the  period. 

Among  the  Loyalists  of  New  York  who  contributed  to  the 
press,  were  the  Rev.  Samuel  Chandler,  the  Rev.  John  Vardill, 
and  Isaac  Wilkins.  The  opponent  of  the  latter  was  the  youth- 


56  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

ful  Hamilton.*  In  the  South,  I  am  disposed  to  conclude,  that 
the  crown  commanded  no  writer  of  ability  except  Daniel  Du- 
lany,  the  attorney-general  of  Maryland,  who  was  in  the  field 
against  Charles  Carroll.  I  know  of  no  ministerial  writer  in 
Virginia.  Those  on  the  Whig  side  were,  it  is  believed,  limited 
to  three,  namely,  Jefferson,  Richard  Bland,  and  Arthur  Lee. 
Some  of  the  popular  leaders  in  the  planting  Colonies  conducted 
an  extensive  correspondence,  but  others  seem  to  have  been 
almost  silent.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  the  only 
editor  and  best  biographer  of  Washington,  found,  or  has  pre 
served,  but  three  letters  in  which  the  disputes  that  agitated  the 
country  are  incidentally  mentioned,  and  but  three  others  in 
which  the  subjects  in  controversy  are  fully  and  explicitly  dis 
cussed.  At  the  North  it  was  essentially  different,  and  the 
letters  of  Massachusetts  Whigs  contain  full  and  valuable  ma 
terials  for  history. 

In  concluding  the  topic,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  while  the 
number  of  the  highest  seminaries  of  learning  was  small,  the 
other  means  of  disseminating  knowledge  were  extremely  lim 
ited.  It  suited  the  views  of  the  mother  country  to  keep  the 
Colonial  press  shackled ;  and  it  seems  hardly  credible,  that  the 
accomplished  Addison,  when  a  minister  of  state,  should  have 
directed  the  governors  in  America  to  allow  of  no  publications, 
and  of  no  printing  without  license.  For  a  considerable  period 
the  most  rigid  censorship  prevailed  in  the  Colonies,  and  even 
almanacs  were  subject  to  examination.*  The  result  of  this 


*  Hamilton's  own  sympathies  were  at  first  on  the  royal  side,  as  he  himself 
admits  in  his  reply  to  Wilkins  ;  and  his  biographer  relates,  that  a  visit  to 
Boston  changed  the  current  of  his  thoughts ;  I  may  add,  —  the  whole  course 
of  his  life. 

*  In  1719  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  obtain  a  license  from  Governor  Shute, 
to  publish  a  pamphlet  upon  the  very  harmless  subject  of  providing  Boston  with 
market-houses,  of  which  the  town  was  then  destitute.     The  pulpit  was,  how 
ever,  free,  and  Dr.  Colman  preached  a  sermon  the  same  year  on  "  the  reasons 
for  a  market  in  Boston."     Censorship  of  the  newspapers,  at  this  period,  con 
tinued  to  be  enforced  so  rigidly,  that  four  years  after,  matter  intended  for 
publication  in  them  was  required  to  be  examined  by  the  Colonial  Secretary. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  57 

state  of  things  was,  that  prior  to  the  Revolution,  most  of  the 
books  were  imported  from  England.  As  in  other  respects, 
however,  the  statute-book  was  sometimes  disobeyed  while  this 
system  was  in  force,  and  works  were  published  which  bore  the 
the  English  imprint,  and  which  closely  resembled  the  English 
copies  used  in  the  publication.  In  this  fraudulent  way,  the 
first  American  edition  of  the  Bible  was  printed  at  Boston. 
Besides,  provision  for  educating  the  people  was  seldom  made, 
and  reading  and  writing  in  some  sections  of  the  country  were 
"  rare  accomplishments."  The  germ  of  the  system  of  free- 
schools  in  New  England,  of  schools  to  be  ordained  and  con 
tinually  maintained  by  law,  is  to  be  sought  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1670,  when  the  profits  of  the  public-fishery  at  Cape  Cod 
were  set  apart  for  the  purpose ;  but  in  Virginia,  it  is  believed, 
that  education  was  never  a  subject  of  legislation  during  the 
whole  course  of  her  Colonial  existence. 

We  are  now  to  speak  of  the  Loyalists  who  opposed  the  Whigs 
in  the  field.     Upon  this  topic,  our  writers  of  history  have  been 

Though  no  particular  officer  may  have  been  charged  with  the  duty  of  super 
vision  later  than  the  year  1730,  a  publisher  was  sent  to  prison  in  1754,  upon 
suspicion  of  having  printed  remarks  derogatory  to  some  members  of  the 
Colonial  government. 

It  may  not  be  without  interest  to  show  what  was  thought  of  the  freedom  of 
the  newspaper  press  thirty  or  forty  years  ago.  In  February,  1812,  the  attor 
ney  general  and  solicitor  general  of  Massachusetts,  state,  in  an  official  report 
to  Governor  Gerry,  that,  in  their  judgment,  there  had  appeared  in  the  Boston 
papers,  since  the  preceding  1st  of  June,  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  libellous  articles,  to  wit :  in  The  Scourge,  ninety-nine  ;  The  Centinel,  fifty- 
one  ;  The  Repertory,  thirty-four  ;  The  Gazette,  thirty-eight ;  The  Palladium, 
eighteen ;  The  Messenger,  one ;  The  Chronicle,  eight ;  and  the  Patriot, 
nine  ;  while  in  The  Yankee  there  had  been  none.  The  report  gives  the  dates 
of  the  papers,  and  divides  the  libellous  matter  into  two  kinds ;  that  in  which 
the  truth  could  be,  and  that  in  which  it  could  not  be  given  in  evidence  to 
justify  the  party  accused.  These  law  officers  state,  moreover,  that  their 
examinations  had  not  embraced  complete  files  of  all  these  prints ;  and  that 
they  had  not  included  in  their  list  calumnious  publications  against  foreign 
governments  or  distinguished  foreigners,  or  libels  of  the  editorial  brethren 
against  each  other.  It  appears  that  the  inquiry  was  instituted  at  his  Excel 
lency's  request. 


58 


OR 


almost  silent;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  persons 
have  read  books  devoted  exclusively  to  an  account  of  the  Rev 
olution,  without  so  much  as  imagining  that  a  part,  and  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  force  employed  to  suppress  the  "  rebellion," 
was  composed  of  our  own  countrymen.  The  two  wars  be 
tween  England  and  France,  which  immediately  preceded  the 
revolt  of  the  Colonies,  were  caused  principally  by  disputes 
about  rights  of  fishing,  and  by  unsettled  questions  of  maritime 
and  territorial  jurisdiction  in  America ;  and  in  these  wars  the 
American  people  had  taken  a  distinguished  part.  In  fact,  in 
aiding  to  put  down  French  pretensions,  our  fathers  acquired 
the  skill  necessary  to  the  successful  assertion  of  their  own.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  officers  who  were  engaged  in  the  expe 
ditions  against  Cape  Breton,  Quebec,  and  other  places  in  the 
possessions  of  France,  espoused  the  popular  side,  and  many  of 
them  became  prominent  leaders.  Thus,  Gridley,  who  laid  out 
the  works  on  Breed's  Hill,  and  Prescott,  who  commanded  the 
troops  that  occupied  them ;  Montgomery,  Gates,  and  St.  Clair ; 
James  Clinton,  Mercer,  and  John  Stark ;  Morgan,  Israel  and 
Rufus  Putnam,  Gibson,  Darke,  Thomas,  Spencer,  Bull,  Brad 
ford,  Zebulon  Butler,  and  Campbell ;  all  of  whom  were  gen 
erals  or  colonels  in  the  Revolution ;  and  Thornton,  Walcott, 
Livingston,  and  Williams,  who  became  Signers  of  the  Declar 
ation  of  Independence,  were  engaged  in  one  or  both  of  these 
wars. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  several  officers  of  merit,  and  some  of 
very  considerable  military  talents,  adhered  to  the  royal  side. 
Of  this  description  were  General  Ruggles,  Colonels  Saltonstall, 
Gilbert,  William  Stark,  (the  brother  of  John),  Peter  Gilman, 
Tyng,  Hewlett,  and  Brewerton.  Among  other  persons  of  con 
sideration,  were  Sir  John  Johnson,  Oliver  De  Lancey,  Robert 
Rogers,  and  Washington's  friend  Mackenzie. 

It  may  not  be  possible  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  Loyalists 
who  took  up  arms,  but  from  the  best  evidence  which  I  have 
been  able  to  obtain,  I  conclude  there  were  twenty  thousand  at 
the  lowest  computation ;  and  unless  their  killed  and  wounded, 
in  the  different  battles  and  affrays  in  which  they  were  engaged, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  59 

were  unusually  large,  I  have  put  their  aggregate  force  far  too 
low.  v  Thus,  in  the  fight  at  Bennington,  or  more  properly  Hoo- 
suc,  in  the  enterprise  of  Sullivan  at  Staten  Island,  in  the  ad 
venture  of  Nelson  in  New  Jersey,  in  the  affray  of  Pickens  with 
a  band  of  Tories  who  were  on  their  way  to  the  British  camp  in 
Georgia,  in  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  in  four  actions  of 
Colonel  Washington,  Marion,  Lee,  and  Sumpter,  the  aggregate 
of  slain,  wounded,  or  made  prisoners,  was  upwards  of  twenty- 
three  hundred,  or  more  than  a  ninth  part  of  my  estimate. 
That,  in  the  various  conflicts  of  the  illustrious  commander-in- 
chief,  in  those  of  Greene,  Lincoln,  and  Gates,  in  the  South,  in 
the  recontres  of  Marion,  Lee,  and  Sumpter,  not  mentioned  above, 
in  the  losses  of  Tryon,  Simcoe,  De  Lancey,  Johnson,  and  Ar 
nold,  in  their  various  actions  with  the  Whig  forces,  or  hastily 
assembled  neighborhoods,  in  the  strifes  between  Whigs  and 
Tories  hand  to  hand,  and  in  cases  where  neither  had  authorized 
or  commissioned  leaders,  another  ninth  part  of  twenty  thousand 
met  with  a  similar  fate  is  nearly  certain.  At  the  time  of  Corn- 
wallis's  surrender,  a  part  of  his  army  was  composed  of  native 
Americans,  and  his  Lordship  evinced  great  anxiety  for  their 
protection.  Failing  to  obtain  special  terms  for  them  in  the 
articles  of  capitulation,  he  availed  himself  of  the  conceded 
privilege  of  sending  an  armed  ship  northerly  without  molesta 
tion,  to  convey  away  the  most  obnoxious  among  them.  Bur- 
goyne  had  been  spared  this  trouble ;  for,  as  his  difficulties  had 
increased,  and  his  dangers  thickened,  the  Loyalists  had  aban 
doned  him  to  his  fate. 

Again.  The  estimated  number  of  twenty  thousand  can  be 
shown  to  be  moderate  in  a  manner  more  direct,  and  perhaps 
more  satisfactory.  Thus,  in  the  South,  Lord  Dunmore  drew 
a  considerable  number  to  his  standard,  and  Martin,  governor 
of  North  Carolina,  succeeded  in  embodying  a  force  of  fifteen 
hundred  men.  Nearly  or  quite  nine  hundred  and  fifty  of  Fer 
guson's  command  at  King's  Mountain,  and  about  thirteen  hun 
dred  of  Butler's  force  at  Wyoming,  were  Tories.  Besides 
these  corps,  and  besides  Sir  John  Johnson's  "  Royal  Greens," 
there  were  certainly  twenty-nine  or  thirty  regiments  or  battal- 


60  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

ions  regularly  organized,  officered,  and  paid.*  The  names  of 
these  various  corps,  and  the  names  of  upwards  of  five  hundred 
officers  who  were  attached  to  them,  will  be  found  in  this  vol 
ume.  If  the  body  raised  by  Lord  Dunmore  be  computed  at 
five  hundred,  and  if  each  of  the  above  regiments  or  battalions, 
including  the  "  Royal  Greens,"  be  supposed  to  have  numbered 
four  hundred,  the  whole  number  will  amount  to  more  than 
sixteen  thousand.  To  the  force  thus  ascertained  with  some 
degree  of  accuracy,  we  have  yet  to  add  the  predatory  bands 
which  were  almost  innumerable  in  some  sections  of  the  coun 
try,  and  during  some  periods  of  the  conflict,  and  those  who 
entered  the  naval  service,  those  who  enlisted  in  privateers,  and 
those  who  in  the  Carolinas  carried  on  the  exterminating  war 
fare  described  by  General  Greene.  With  regard  to  the  latter, 
it  may  be  remarked,  that  they  must  have  formed  a  numerous 
body,  for  if,  as  he  says,  "thousands"  were  slain,  "thousands" 
were  of  course  engaged  in  the  murderous  conflicts. 

And  yet  again.  In  an  address  of  the  Loyalists  who  were  in 
London  in  1779,  presented  to  the  king,  it  is  said  that  their 
countrymen  then  in  his  Majesty's  army,  "exceeded  in  number 
the  troops  enlisted  [by  Congress]  to  oppose  them"  exclusive  of 
those  who  were  "  in  service  in  private  ships  of  war."  In  a 

*  The  King's  Rangers  ;  the  Royal  Feasible  Americans  ;  the  Queen's 
Rangers ;  the  New  York  Volunteers ;  the  King's  American  Regiment ; 
the  Prince  of  Wales's  American  Volunteers ;  the  Maryland  Loyalists ; 
De  Lancey's  Battalions ;  the  Second  American  Regiment ;  the  King's 
Rangers  Carolina  ;  the  South  Carolina  Royalists  ;  the  North  Carolina  High 
land  Regiment ;  the  King's  American  Dragoons  ;  the  Loyal  American  Regi 
ment  ;  the  American  Legion ;  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers ;  the  British 
Legion ;  the  Loyal  Foresters  ;  the  Orange  Rangers  ;  the  Pennsylvania  Loy 
alists;  the  Guides  and  Pioneers;  the  North  Carolina  Volunteers;  the 
Georgia  Loyalists;  the  West  Chester  Volunteers.  These  corps  were  all 
commanded  by  colonels  or  lieutenant  colonels,  and  as  De  Lancey's  Battal 
ions,  and  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers  consisted  each  of  three  battalions, 
here  were  twenty-eight.  To  these,  the  Newport  Associates,  the  Loyal 
New  Englanders,  the  Associated  Loyalists,  and  Wentworth's  Volunteers, 
remain  to  be  added.  Still  further,  Col.  Archibald  Hamilton  of  New  York 
commanded  at  one  period  seventeen  companies  of  Loyal  Militia. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  61 

similar  document  dated  in  1782,  and  which  was  addressed  to 
the  King  and  both  houses  of  Parliament,  the  same  declaration 
is  repeated,  though  in  stronger  terms,  since  the  language  is, 
that  "  there  are  many  more  men  in  his  Majesty's  provincial 
regiments  than  there  are  in  the  continental  service."  These  last 
addresses  declare,  moreover,  that  "  the  zeal"  of  the  Loyalists 
must  he  greater  than  that  of  the  "rebels,"  for  "the  desultory 
manner  in  which  the  war  has  been  carried  on  by  first  taking 
possession  of  Boston,  Rhode  Island,  Philadelphia,  Portsmouth, 
and  Norfolk  in  Virginia,  and  Wilmington  in  North  Carolina, 
and  then  evacuating  them,"  had  ruined  thousands,  and  in 
volved  others  in  the  greatest  wretchedness,  and  had  rendered 
enlistments  tardy  under  "  such  "  discouragements,  and  "  very 
unequal  circumstances."  That,  down  to  1779,  the  adherents 
of  the  crown  had  not  refused  to  serve  in  the  field  is  distinctly 
stated  in  the  Address  first  quoted,  and  in  these  words :  "If 
any  Colony  or  district,  when  covered  or  possessed  by  your  Ma 
jesty's  troops,  had  been  called  upon  to  take  arms,  and  had 
refused,  or  if  any  attempts  had  been  made  to  form  the  Loyalist 
militia,  *  *  *  and  it  had  been  declined,  we  should  not  on 
this  occasion  have  presumed  thus  to  Address  your  Majesty," 
&c.  The  descendants  of  Loyalist  officers  who  entered  the 
military  service  early  in  the  struggle,  and  continued  in  commis 
sion  until  its  close,  entertain  the  general  views  expressed  in 
these  extracts ;  and  the  opinion  that  Americans  in  the  pay  of 
the  crown  were  quite  as  numerous  as  those  who  entered  the 
army  of  Congress,  is  very  commonly  held  by  persons  with 
whom  I  have  conversed.  Still,  I  doubt  whether  either  the  writ 
ten  or  verbal  statements  are  to  be  relied  on  implicitly,  and  for 
the  reason,  that  in  the  former  I  am  sure  there  are  exaggerations 
on  other  subjects,  and  the  latter  rest  on  the  assertions  of  men 
who  were  equally  ready  to  attribute  the  success  of  the  Whigs 
and  their  own  ruin  to  the  inefficiency  and  bad  management  of 
Sir  William  Howe,  and  other  royal  generals. 

At  the  peace,  the  Loyalist  corps  were  disbanded.     A  few  of 
the  officers  were  transferred  to  the  regiilar  army,  and  continued 
in  service  for  life  ;  but  the  great  majority  were  less  fortunate, 
6 


OR 

and,  while  some  of  the  highest  rank  went  to  England,  others, 
in  departing  into  banishment,  were  compelled  to  seek  for  homes 
in  regions  sparsely  peopled,  and,  as  many  of  them  imagined, 
hardly  habitable.*  To  ascertain  the  fate  of  all  of  those  whose 
names  and  rank  appear  in  this  work,  is  not  now,  perhaps, 
possible.  Those  who  were  attached  to  the  corps  raised  at  the 
extreme  South,  were  principally  inhabitants  of  that  section, 
and  it  is  known  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  settled  in  the 
Bahamas,  Florida,  and  the  British  West  Indies.  Some  of  the 
officers  who  belonged  to  the  "  Maryland  Loyalists,"  and  some 
of  the  privates  of  that  corps,  embarked  for  Nova  Scotia,  but 
were  wrecked  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  a  part  perished.  My 
information,  therefore,  of  those  who  were  in  commission  in 
Georgia,  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  is  extremely 
limited.  Of  several  of  those  of  the  "Pennsylvania  Loyalists" 
under  command  of  the  apostate  Allen,  I  have  been  able  to  learn 
a  few  particulars ;  and  of  many  who  served  in  the  different 
regiments  or  battalions  raised  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
under  De  Lancey,  Robinson,  and  Skinner,  I  have  obtained  in 
telligence  of  interest. 

Of  the  three  corps  organized  in  New  England,  it  is  singular 
to  remark,  that  I  have  learned  less  than  of  most  others.  The 
"  Wentworth  Volunteers "  enlisted  in  New  Hampshire,  could 
not,  I  suppose,  have  been  a  body  of  men  of  much  efficiency. 
If  they  performed  any  exploit  other  than  that  of  carrying  off 
from  Connecticut  a  "rebel"  minister  and  his  congregation, 

*  Some  of  the  officers  in  departing  for  Nova  Scotia  remarked,  that  they 
were  "bound  to  a  country  where  there  was  nine  months  winter,  and  three 
months  of  cold  weather  every  year."  Some  idea  of  the  views  entertained  of 
this  Colony  at  the  peace  may  be  formed  from  an  extract  or  two  from  a  pam 
phlet  published  in  England  in  1784.  "  It  has  a  winter  of  almost  insupporta 
ble  length  and  coldness  "  *  *  *  *  "  there  are  but  a  few  inconsiderable 
spots  fit  to  cultivate,  and  the  land  is  covered  with  a  cold  spongy  moss  in  place 
of  grass"  *  *  *  *  "the  land  is  so  barren,  that  corn  does  not  come  up 
well  in  it"  *  *  *  *  "winter  continues  at  least  seven  months  in  the 
year"  *  *  *  *  "the  country  is  wrapt  in  the  gloom  of  a  perpetual  fog  " 
*  #  *  *  a  tne  mountains  run  down  to  the  sea-coast,  and  leave  but  here 
and  there  a  spot  fit  to  inhabit."  &c.  &c. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  63 

and  the  horses  and  pillions  of  the  good  dames  who  had  gone 
to  meeting,  history  has  not  done  them  justice.  The  Rhode 
Island  troops,  or  "  Newport  Associators,"  consisted,  possibly, 
of  three  companies.  The  "  Loyal  New  Englanders  "  were 
commanded  by  Col.  Wightman,  but  their  numbers,  and  with 
two  exceptions,  the  names  of  the  officers,  have  not  been  as 
certained,  after  some  research  and  personal  inquiry. 

The  Loyalist  officers  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  when  their 
corps  were  disbanded,  retired  on  half-pay.  This  stipend  they 
received  during  life,  and  they  also  received  grants  of  land  ac 
cording  to  their  rank.  Such  is  the  fact  with  regard  to  those 
who  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  other  parts 
of  British  North  America,  and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  all 
were  treated  alike.  Many,  too,  held  responsible  and  lucrative 
civil  offices,  and  some  even  administered  the  government  of  the 
Colonies  in  which  they  resided.  Nothing  in  their  history  is 
more  remarkable  than  their  longevity.  Several  lived  to  enjoy 
their  half-pay  upwards  of  half  a  century,  and  so  common 
among  them  were  the  ages  of  eighty-five,  ninety,  and  even  of 
ninety-five  years,  that  the  saying,  "  Loyalist  half -pay  officers 
never  die"  was  often  repeated.  Their  children  assure  inqui 
rers,  that,  to  those  who  were  in  the  vigor -of  life,  the  bounty  of 
the  crown  was  rather  injurious  than  beneficial,  and  that,  while 
it  relieved  the  maimed,  and  the  shattered  in  health,  who  were 
comparatively  few,  it  impaired  the  energy  and  diminished  the 
enterprise  of  the  more  numerous  class,  who,  inhabitants  of  a 
wilderness  country,  should  have  cleared  the  forests  and  made 
themselves  farms.  Their  descendants  state,  that,  secure  in  a 
sum  annually,  which  would  procure  them  food  and  clothing, 
and  which  placed  them  beyond  the  fear  of  want,  they  were  not 
compelled  to  task  their  faculties  to  procure  subsistence,  and 
that,  saddened  by  their  recollections  of  the  past,  they  became 
"morose,"  "sour,"  and  "peevish." 

In  fact,  the  representations  of  persons  of  Loyalist  lineage 
afford  satisfactory  evidence,  that,  as  a  class,  the  half-pay  offi 
cers  were  unhappy  men.  The  lands  which  were  granted  to 
them  were  not  settled  or  made  productive,  and  but  for  the 


64  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

recent  timber-land  mania,  which  attracted  the  speculators  of 
Maine  and  Massachusetts,  large  tracts  would  have  remained 
unexplored  and  valueless  down  to  the  present  time.  The  im 
pression  that  the  revolutionary  contest  should  have  terminated 
differently,  was  very  common,  and  in  many  it  was  very  strong. 
That  they,  —  "  the  loyal,  the  true,"  — should  have  been  the 
losers  in  the  strife,  and  "  the  false  and  the  rebellious"  the  win 
ners  ;  and  that  the  former  should  have  been  driven  from  the 
country  in  which  they  were  born,  to  commence  life  anew  in  un 
broken  forests,  were  circumstances  over  which  they  continually 
brooded,  and  to  which  they  were  never  reconciled.  They  insisted, 
and  those  who  have  inherited  their  names  and  possessions,  and 
many  of  their  prejudices  and  opinions,  still  insist,  that  both 
Sir  William  Howe,  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  his  successor,  could 
and  should  have  quelled  "  the  Rebellion,"  and  that  the  former, 
especially,  is  wholly  inexcusable.  If,  by  their  course  of  rea 
soning,  Sir  William  had  occupied  Dorchester  heights,  and  the 
high-lands  of  Charlestown,  as  a  sagacious  general  would  have 
done,  and  as  his  force  and  park  of  artillery  allowed  him  to  do, 
all  the  disasters  to  the  royal  arms  which  followed  would  have 
been  prevented. 

These  remarks  are  to  be  considered  as  general.  Some  of  the 
Loyalist  officers,  who  settled  in  British  America,  bore  their 
deprivations  with  cheerfulness,  and  spared  no  efforts  to  improve 
their  fallen  fortunes.  To  these,  half-pay  was  of  great  benefit, 
since  it  enabled  them  to  erect  buildings,  and  improve  and 
stock  the  lands  which  were  granted  to  them;  and  the  houses 
which  they  built,  in  which  they  lived  and  died,  and  which  are 
now  occupied  by  their  descendants,  contain  every  convenience 
and  comfort  necessary  for  human  enjoyment.  Others  of  a 
similar  cast  of  character  embarked  in  commercial  pursuits, 
and  became  men  of  property  and  even  of  wealth ;  and  still 
others,  who  had  been  bred  to  the  law,  resumed  practice,  and 
became  able  and  distinguished  advocates. 

The  reader  will  find  that  another  class  of  Loyalists,  who  held 
commissions  under  the  crown,  hovered  upon  our  northern  and 
southern  frontiers,  and  in  the  depth  of  their  malignity  and  hos- 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  65 

tility,  incited  the  savage  tribes  to  deeds  of  rapine  and  murder ; 
and  engaged  in  schemes  and  plots  to  deprive  us  of  important 
rights  and  territories.  The  conduct  of  McKee,  Elliot,  and 
Girty,  in  Canada;  of  McGillivray,  Panton,  and  Bowles,  in 
Florida ;  and  of  Conolly,  and  his  associates,  in  their  endeavor 
to  raise  a  force  to  seize  New  Orleans,  and  to  control  the  Missis 
sippi,  produced  alarm  in  those  who  conducted  our  public  af 
fairs,  and  involved  the  settlers  upon  our  borders  in  misery. 

The  examination,  now  completed,  of  the  political  condition 
of  the  Colonies,  of  the  state  of  parties,  and  of  the  divisions  in 
particular  classes  in  society  and  avocations  in  life,  leads  to  the 
conclusion,  that  tthe  number  of  our  countrymen  who  wished 
to  continue  their  connexion  with  the  mother  country  was  very 
large.  In  nearly  every  Loyalist  letter  or  other  paper  which  I 
have  examined,  and  in  which  the  subject  is  mentioned,  it  is  either 
assumed  or  stated  in  terms,  that  the  loyal  were  the  majority  ; 
and  this  opinion,  I  am  satisfied,  was  very  generally  entertained 
by  those  who  professed  to  have  a  knowledge  of  public  senti 
ment.  That  the  adherents  of  the  crown  were  mistaken,  is 
certain.  But  yet,  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  possibly  in 
Pennsylvania,  the  two  parties  differed  but  little  in  point  of 
strength,  while  in  New  York,  the  Whigs  were  far  weaker  than 
their  opponents.^ 

It  may  be  asked,  why,  when  the  Colonial  System  was  so 
odious,  when  it  restrained  the  industry,  and  in  so  many  other 
respects,  oppressed  and  wronged  the  Colonists,  there  was  not 
greater  unanimity ;  and  why  persons  so  respectable,  and  hith 
erto  universally  esteemed,  as  were  many  of  the  "  government- 
men,"  were  seemingly,  or  in  fact,  averse  to  breaking  away 
from  British  dominion  ?  These  questions  have  been  put 
to  Loyalists  themselves.  They  have  answered,  that  the 
South  was  not  originally  directly  interested  in  the  measures 
which  excited  so  deep  hostility  at  the  North  ;  that  at  the  forma 
tion  of  parties  throughout  the  Colonies  generally,  under  their 
last  names,  they  were  still  regarded  as  the  common  organiza 
tions  of  the  ins  and  the  outs,  and  as  the  continued  strivings  of 
the  one  to  retain,  and  of  the  other  to  gain  patronage  and  place ; 
6* 


66 


OR 


and  that  the  mass,  in  taking  sides  with  or  against  the  royal 
governors,  was  stimulated  by  the  hopes  which  politicians  have 
always  been  able  to  excite  in  their  followers.  It  has  been  an 
swered,  too,  that  few  foresaw  the  issue  to  which  the  quarrel 
must  come,  and  that  the  Whigs  continually  denied  an  intention 
to  do  more  than  obtain  a  peaceable  redress  of  grievances.  It 
has  been  said,  also,  that  those  who  received  the  name  of  Tories 
were  not  at  first,  nor  indeed  for  some  years,  resisting  a  revolu 
tion,  but  striving  to  preserve  order,  and  an  observance  of  the 
rights  of  persons  and  property ;  that  many,  who  took  sides  at 
the  outset  as  mere  conservators  of  the  peace,  were  denounced 
by  those  whose  purposes  they  thwarted,  and  were  finally  com 
pelled,  in  pure  self-defence,  to  accept  of  royal  protection,  and 
thus  to  become  identified  with  the  royal  party  ever  after.  Again, 
it  has  been  stated,  that,  had  the  naked  question  of  Independ 
ence  been  discussed  from  the  beginning,  and  before  minor,  and 
in  many  cases,  local,  events  had  shaped  their  course,  many, 
who  were  driven  forth  to  live  and  die  as  aliens  and  outcasts, 
would  have  terminated  their  career  far  differently ;  that  many 
were  opposed  to  war  from  religious  principle ;  that  some  thought 
the  people  enjoyed  privileges  enough ;  that  others  were  influ 
enced  by  their  official  connexions  or  aspirations ;  that  another 
class,  who  seldom  mingled  in  the  affairs  of  active  life,  loved 
retirement,  and  would,  had  the  Whigs  allowed  them,  have  re 
mained  neutrals;  that  some  were  timid  men;  some  were  old  men ; 
and  that  tenants  and  dependents  went  with  the  landholders 
without  inquiry,  and  as  a  thing  of  course.  All  of  these  reasons, 
and  numerous  others,  have  been  assigned  at  different  times, 
and  by  different  persons.  But  another  cause  quite  as  potent  as 
either  of  those  which  have  been  enumerated  operated,  it  would 
seem,  upon  thousands,  namely,  a  dread  of  the  strength  and 
resources  of  England,  and  the  belief,  that  successful  resistance 
to  her  power  was  impossible ;  that  the  Colonies  had  neither  the 
men  nor  the  means  to  carry  on  war,  and  would  be  humbled 
and  reduced  to  submission  with  hardly  an  effort. 

That  motives  and  considerations,  hopes  and  fears,  like  these, 
had  an  influence  in  the  formation  of  the  last  Colonial  parties, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  67 

cannot  be  disputed,  and  the  unprejudiced  minds  of  this  genera 
tion  should  be  frank  enough  to  admit  it.  All,  both  Whigs  and 
Tories,  were  bom  and  had  grown  up  under  a  monarchy ;  and 
the  abstract  question  of  renouncing  it  or  of  continuing  it  was 
one  on  which  men  of  undoubted  patriotism  differed  widely. 
Very  many  of  the  Whigs  came  into  the  final  measure  of  sep 
arating  from  the  mother  country  with  great  reluctance,  and 
doubt  and  hesitation  prevailed  even  in  Congress.  Besides,  the 
Whig  leaders  uniformly  denied,  that  Independence  was  em 
braced  in  their  plans,  and  constantly  affirmed,  that  their  sole 
object  was  to  obtain  concessions,  and  to  continue  the  connexion 
with  England  as  hitherto ;  and  John  Adams  goes  further  than 
this,  for,  says  he,  "  there  was  not  a  moment  during  the  revolu 
tion,  ivhen  I  would  not  have  given  everything  I  possessed  for  a 
restoration  to  the  state  of  things  before  the  contest  began,  pro 
vided  we  could  have  had  a  sufficient  security  for  its  continu 
ance"  If  Mr.  Adams  be  regarded  as  expressing  the  sentiments 
of  the  Whigs,  they  were  willing  to  remain  Colonists,  provided 
they  could  have  had  their  rights  secured  to  them  j  while  the 
Tories  were  contented  thus  to  continue,  without  such  security. 
Such,  as  it  appears  to  me,  was  the  only  difference  between  the 
two  parties  prior  to  hostilities,  and  many  Whigs,  like  Mr. 
Adams,  would  have  been  willing  to  rescind  the  declaration  of 
independence,  and  to  forget  the  past,  upon  proper  guarantees  for 
the  future.  This  mode  of  stating  the  question,  and  of  defining 
the  difference  between  the  two  parties  —  down  to  a  certain  pe 
riod  at  least  —  cannot  be  objected  to,  unless  the  sincerity  and 
truthfulness  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  our  history 
are  directly  impeached  ;  and  if  any  are  prepared  to  dispute  their 
veracity,  it  may  still  be  asked,  whether  the  Tories  ought  not  to 
be  excused  for  believing  them?  What,  then,  has  been  said  by 
men,  whom  we  most  justly  reverence  ?  Franklin's  testimony, 
a  few  days  before  the  affair  at  Lexington,  was,  that  he  had 
"more  than  once  travelled  almost  from  one  end  of  the  conti 
nent  to  the  other,  and  kept  a  variety  of  company,  eating,  drink 
ing,  and  conversing  with  them  freely,  [and]  never  had  heard 
in  any  conversation  from  any  person,  drunk  or  sober,  the  least 


68  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

expression  of  a  wish  for  a  separation,  or  a  hint  that  such  a 
thing  would  be  advantageous  to  America"  Mr.  Jay  is  quite 
as  explicit.  "During  the  course  of  my  life,"  said  he,  I' and 
until  the  second  petition  of  Congress,  in  1775,  I  never  did  hear 
an  American  of  any  class ,  or  of  any  description,  express  a 
wish  for  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies"  "  It  has  always 
been,  and  still  is  my  opinion  and  belief,  that  our  country  was 
prompted  and  impelled  to  Independence  by  necessity,  and  not 
by  choice"  Mr.  Jefferson  affirmed,  "What,  eastward  of  New 
York,  might  have  been  the  dispositions  towards  England  be 
fore  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  I  know  not ;  but  before 
that  I  never  heard  a  whisper  of  a  disposition  to  separate  from 
Great  Britain ;  and  after  that,  its  possibility  was  contemplated 
with  affliction  by  all"  Washington,  in  1774,  fully  sustains  these 
declarations,  and  in  the  "  Fairfax  County  Resolves,"  it  was 
complained,  that  "  malevolent  falsehoods  "  were  propagated  by 
the  ministry  to  prejudice  the  mind  of  the  king,  "particularly 
that  there  is  an  intention  in  the  American  Colonies  to  set  up  for 
independent  states."  Mr.  Madison  was  not  in  public  life  un 
til  May,  1776,  but  he  says,  that  "It  has  always  been  my  im 
pression,  that  a  re-establishment  of  the  Colonial  relations  to 
the  parent  country,  as  they  were  previous  to  the  controversy,  was 
the  real  object  of  every  class  of  the  people,  till  the  despair  of 
obtaining  it,"  &c.* 

I  have  to  repeat,  that  the  only  way  to  dispose  of  testimony 
like  this,  is  to  impeach  the  persons  who  have  given  it.  With 
the  principles  of  men  who,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  a 
redress  of  grievances  could  not  be  obtained,  preferred  to  remain 
British  subjects,  I  have  neither  communion  nor  sympathy; 
and  I  may  be  pardoned  for  adding,  that  I  have  watched  the 
operations  and  tendencies  of  the  Colonial  System  of  govern 
ment  too  long  and  too  narrowly,  modified  as  it  now  is,  not  to 
entertain  for  it  the  heartiest  dislike.  Yet  I  would  do  the  men 
who  were  born  under  it,  and  were  reconciled  to  it,  justice  ;  and 


*  See  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  2,  p.  498,  500,  and  501 ;  the  italics  are 
my  own,  except  in  the  extract  from  the  "  Fairfax  County  Resolves." 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  69 

if,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  says,  a  "possibility"  of  the  necessity  of  a 
separation  of  the  two  countries,  "  was  contemplated  with  afflic 
tion  by  all"  and  if  the  statements  made  by  Franklin,  Adams, 
Jay,  Madison  and  Washington,  are  to  be  considered  as  true 
and  as  decisive,  I  renewedly  ask,  what  other  line  of  difference 
existed  between  the  Whigs  and  Tories,  than  what  has  been 
mentioned,  namely,  the  terms  on  which  the  connexion  of  the 
Colonies  with  England  should  be  continued. 

My  object  in  the  attention  bestowed  on  this  point  has  been 
to  remove  the  erroneous  impression  which  seems  to  prevail, 
that  the  Whigs  proposed  and  the  Tories  opposed  Independence, 
at  the  very  commencement  of  the  controversy.  Instead  of  this, 
we  have  seen,  that  quite  fourteen  years  elapsed  before  the 
question  was  made  a  party  issue,  and  that  even  then,  "neces 
sity,"  and  not  "choice,"  caused  a  dismemberment  of  the  em 
pire.  Since  it  has  appeared,  therefore,  from  the  highest  sources, 
that  the  Whigs  resolved  finally  upon  Revolution,  because  they 
were  denied  the  rights  of  British  subjects,  and  not  because  they 
disliked  monarchical  institutions,  and  were  disinclined  to  re 
main  Colonists  ;  the  Tories  may  be  relieved  from  the  imputa 
tion  of  being  the  only  "  monarchy-men  "  of  the  time. 

We  are  now  to  survey,  very  briefly,  the  course  pursued  by 
the  Loyalists  during  the  war.  As  I  have  preferred  connexion 
of  subject  to  mere  chronological  order,  some  of  the  details  be 
longing  to  this  branch  of  our  inquiry  have  been  given,  in  or 
der  to  complete  the  topics  already  discussed. 
[  Besides  the  Loyalists  of  New  England  who  abandoned  the 
country  at  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  and  of  whom  I  have 
spoken,  there  were  similar  emigrations  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  at  different  periods  and  aspects  of  the  war.  After  the 
surrender  of  Burgoyne,  especially,  the  number  was  very  con 
siderable.  In  time,  a  large  part  of  the  civil  officers  of  the 
several  Colonial  governments,  many  of  those  whose  age  or 
infirmities,  or  principles,  did  not  permit  them  to  take  part  in 
hostilities,  as  well  as  many  of  the  clergy  who  had  become 
obnoxious,  found  their  way  to  England.  These  various  class 
es,  with  their  wives  and  children,  formed  at  last  a  numerous 


70  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

body  ;  and  hundreds  were  destitute  of  the  means  of  support. 
The  capitulation  of  Lord  Cornwallis  caused  another  large 
emigration,  and  at  the  peace  thousands  were  either  partially 
or  entirely  dependent,  and  without  employment. 

Several  of  those  who  went  to  England  in  the  early  part  of 
the  struggle,  received  allowances  from  the  government  soon 
after  their  arrival.  Sanguine  that  every  campaign  would  be  the 
last,  the  provision  which  was  made  for  these  and  for  others, 
who,  from  time  to  time,  joined  them,  and  were  added  to  the 
list,  was  small,  and  in  some  instances  too  small  to  afford  essen 
tial  relief.  Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1782,  the  number  of 
those  to  whom  assistance  was  rendered,  was  three  hundred  and 
fifteen,  and  the  amount  bestowed  in  regular  pensions  was 
£40,280,*  besides  about  £18,000,  which  were  applied  to  par 
ticular  individuals  under  peculiar  circumstances.  Under  the 
expectation  that  the  "rebellion"  would  soon  be  suppressed, 
and  that  the  emigrants  would  soon  return  to  their  own  coun 
try,  the  allowances  were  at  first  limited  to  three  months,  but 
were  finally  converted  into  yearly  and  regular  stipends ;  and 
as  the  sums  to  be  given  each  were  fixed  oftentimes  without 
inquiry,  (and  probably  by  favor,)  great  inequality  existed, 
which  it  was  found  necessary  to  correct.  A  committee  was 
accordingly  appointed  to  investigate  the  subject  generally,  and 
to  report  upon  the  cases  of  persons  who  enjoyed  pensions  or 
gratuities,  and  of  those  who  claimed  them.  This  committee 
accordingly  examined  into  the  condition  of  the  recipients  and 
of  the  applicants,  and  in  the  course  of  their  inquiry,  required 
the  production  of  papers  and  witnesses.  The  results  at  which 
they  arrived  were,  that  of  the  three  hundred  and  fifteen  persons 
who  then  composed  the  pension  list,  fifty-six  who  did  not  appear 
before  them  received  £5,595,  the  payment  of  which  was  sus 
pended  until  farther  inquiry  ;  that  of  the  remaining  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty-nine,  who  received  £34,695  per  annum,  twenty- 


*  Curwen  states,  that  the  sum  said  to  be  paid  the  "  Refugees  "  in  England, 
in  1782,  was  "  near  .£80,000."  I  follow  the  official  report  of  the  committee, 
which  gives  the  amount  stated  in  the  text. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  /  L 

five  did  not  come  within  the  description  of  Loyalists,  or  were 
not  entitled  to  consideration;  and  that  ninety  of  those  who  were 
objects  of  relief,  and  who  received  £16,885,  were  more  favor 
ably  dealt  with  than  others  more  needy,  and  therefore  more 
deserving  of  the  royal  bounty. 

In  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  committee,  the  allow 
ances  granted  to  several  were  wholly  discontinued,  while  those 
to  others  were  diminished,  and  those  of  a  third  class  increased. 
The  sum  annually  to  be  paid  to  the  persons  who  were  con 
tinued  on  the  list,  under  their  corrections,  was  only  £26,400.* 
But  the  applications  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  of  the 
new  claimants  were  successful,  and  in  June  of  1783  the  sum 
of  £43,245  per  annum  was  distributed  "among  six  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  Loyalist  pensioners.! 

Among  those  who  went  to  England  was  Samuel  Curwen  of 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  who  kept  a  Journal,  which  has  been 
published.  The  life  which  he  led  while  a  "Refugee,"  gives, 
I  suppose,  a  tolerably  good  idea  of  what  was  seen,  heard,  and 
felt  by  those  who,  like  himself,  were  not  entirely  destitute  of 
means.  His  Journal,  for  those  who  have  not  read  it,  may  be 
compressed  thus :  — 

Visited   Westminster   Hall.      Went   to  Vauxhall   Gardens. 

*  Curwen,  differing  again  with  the  official  report,  says  that  the  amount  of 
pensions  paid  on  the  old  list  was  "  shrunk  "  by  the  "  reform  to  £38,000." 
His  own  was  continued  at  £100,  and  Samuel  Sewall's  at  the  same.  No 
reduction  was  made  in  Thomas  Danforth's,  Samuel  Porter's,  Peter  Johonnet's, 
George  Brindley's,  or  Edward  Oxnard's.  In  the  allowance  to  some  other 
Massachusetts  Loyalists,  changes  were  made  ;  thus,  Lieutenant  Governor  Oli 
ver's  was  reduced  from  £300  to  £200;  Harrison  Gray's  was  wholly  discon 
tinued  ;  Lewis  Gray's  was  reduced  to  £50  ;.  David  IngersolPs  was  reduced 
from  £200  to  £100;  Benjamin  Gridley's  from  £150  to  £100;  and  Sam 
uel  H.  Sparhawk's  from  £150  to  £80  ;  but  Samuel  Fitch's  was  raised  £20  ; 
and  Colonel  Morrow's  £50. 

f  Many  Loyalists  enjoyed  pensions  for  years  after  the  close  of  the  war ; 
and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  others  were  continued  on  the  list  for  partial 
allowances,  as  late,  certainly,  as  1788,  when  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  per 
sons  were  recipients  of  £26,526,  and  were  either  expatriated  Americans  or 
the  survivors  of  their  families. 


72 


OR 


Dined  with  a  fellow-refugee.  Saw  the  Lord  Mayor  in  his 
court.  Dined  with  Governor  Hutchinson,  in  company  with 
several  Massachusetts  refugees.  Walked  to  Hyde  Park.  A 
whole  army  of  suiferers  in  the  cause  of  loyalty  are  here,  la 
menting  their  own  and  their  country's  unhappy  fate.  "  The 
fires  are  not  to  be  compared  to  our  large  American  ones  of  oak 
and  walnut,  nor  near  so  comfortable;  would  that  I  were 
away !  "  Saw  many  curiosities  brought  from  Egypt  and  the 
Holy  Land.  Visited  Hampton  Court;  saw  there  chairs  of 
state  with  rich  canopies  ;  pictures  of  the  reigning  beauties  of 
the  times  of  Charles  the  Second ;  pictures  of  monks,  friars, 
nuns ;  pictures  of  former  kings  and  queens.  Went  to  Windsor. 
Heard  news  from  America.  Went  to  Governor  Hutchmson's ; 
he  was  alone,  reading  a  new  pamphlet,  entitled  "  An  Enquiry 
whether  Great  Britain  or  America  is  most  in  Fault."  Dined 
with  eleven  New  En  glanders.  Went  to  meeting  of  Disputation 
Club.  Bought  Dr.  Price  on  "  Civil  Liberty  and  the  American 
War."  Visited  Governor  Hutchinson,  who  was  again  alone. 
Went  to  Herald's  office.  Went  to  New  England  Coifee-house. 
New  England  refugees  form  a  Club.  Went  to  Chapel  Royal, 
and  saw  the  king  and  queen;  Bishop  of  London  preached. 
Heard  Dr.  Price  preach.  Dinner,  tea,  and  evening  with  sev 
eral  refugees.  Attended  funeral  of  fellow-refugee  ;  many  have 
died.  At  the  New  England  Club  dinner,  twenty-five  members 
present.  News  of  banishment  and  confiscation  acts.  Saw 
procession  of  peers  for  trial  of  Duchess  of  Kingston.  Went  to 
St.  Paul's;  Dr.  Porteus  preached;  several  high  church  digni 
taries  present.  Saw  Lord  Mansfield  in  Court,  his  train  borne 
by  a  gentleman.  Went  to  Bunyan's  tomb.  Heard  Dr.  Peters, 
a  Connecticut  Loyalist,  preach.  News  from  America.  Strive 
hard  for  some  petty  clerkship ;  application  was  unsuccessful ; 
such  offices  openly  bought  and  sold.  Hopes  and  fears  excited 
by  accounts  from  native  land.  Visited  ancient  ruins,  supposed 
to  be  either  of  Roman  or  Danish  origin.  Witnessed  election 
of  a  member  of  parliament.  Discuss  probability  of  war's 
closing.  Sigh  to  return  to  America.  Fear  to  be  reduced  to 
want :  lament  distressed  and  forlorn  condition.  Visited  noble- 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  73 

men's  estates  and  castles.  Heard  of  death  of  Washington. 
Letter  from  a  friend  in  America.  Visited  different  colleges  and 
public  gardens.  Fears  about  losing  pension,  and  horror  of  ut 
ter  poverty.  Attended  sessions  of  parliament;  heard  Fox, 
Burke,  and  other  great  orators.  Heard  that  Washington  and 
his  army  were  captured.  Heard  Wesley  preach  to  an  immense 
throng  in  the  open  air.  Visited  a  fishing-town,  and  reminded 
of  fishing-towns  in  Massachusetts.  Heard  that  Washington 
is  declared  Dictator,  like  Cromwell.  King  implored  to  drive 
Lord  North  from  his  service,  and  take  Chatham,  and  men  of 
his  sentiments,  instead.  Witnessed  equipment  of  fleets  and 
armies  to  subdue  America.  Angry  and  mortified  to  hear  Eng 
lishmen  talk  of  Americans  as  a  sort  of  serfs.  Wearied  of 
sights.  Sick  at  heart,  and  tired  of  a  sojourn  among  a  people, 
who,  after  all,  are  but  foreigners.  New  refugees  arrived  to 
recount  their  losses  and  sufferings.  Fear  of  alliance  with 
France.  Great  excitement  in  England  among  the  opposers  of 
the  war.  Continued  and  frequent  deaths  among  the  refugee 
Loyalists.  Pensions  of  several  friends  reduced.  Fish  dinner 
at  the  Coffee-house.  O,  for  a  return  to  New  England  !  Anx 
ious  as  to  the  result  of  the  war.  News  of  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  and  admission  on  all  hands,  that  England  can  do  no 
more.  All  the  Loyalists  abroad  deeply  agitated  as  to  their 
future  fate.  Failure  of  British  Commissioners  to  procure  in  the 
treaty  of  peace  any  positive  conditions  for  the  Americans  in 
exile.  Long  to  be  away,  but  dare  not  go.  Some  refugees 
venture  directly  to  return  to  their  homes ;  others  embark  for 
Nova  Scotia  and  Canada,  there  to  suffer  anew.  Know  of 
forty-five  refugees  from  Massachusetts  who  have  died  in  Eng 
land  ;  among  them,  Hutchinson,  the  governor,  and  Flucker, 
the  secretary. 

Such  were  some  of  the  things  which  Curwen  saw  and  heard, 
such  the  hopes  and  fears  which  agitated  him  during  his  exile, 
and  the  course  of  life  of  hundreds  of  others,  we  may  very 
properly  conclude,  was  not  dissimilar.  Would  that  all  the 
opposers  of  the  Revolution  had  passed  their  time  as  innocently ! 
Some  of  those  who  remained  in  the  country,  did  in  fact  do  so ; 
7 


74  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

since  they  were  nominal  Loyalists  only,  and  lived  quietly  upon 
their  estates,  or  pursued  their  ordinary  employments  at  their 
usual  homes,  in  the  towns  occupied  by  the  royal  forces. 

The  relentless  warfare  of  Sir  John  Johnson,  of  Butler,  Tryon, 
and  the  apostate  Arnold ;  the  enormities  committed  in  New 
Jersey ;  and  the  murders  perpetrated  in  South  Carolina,  have 
been  mentioned.  Elsewhere,  bands  of  Tories  killed  the  un 
armed  and  unoffending  merely  to  glut  their  revenge ;  others 
contented  themselves  with  the  plundering  of  houses  and  the 
robbery  of  persons  on  the  highways ;  another  class,  to  aid  in 
the  already  rapid  depreciation  of  the  "  continental-money," 
and  to  throw  so  much  doubt  upon  it  as  to  stop  its  circulation, 
assisted  to  emit  and  pass  immense  sums  of  the  counterfeit,  so 
well  executed,  as  to  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  genuine. 
Whole  families  engaged  in  the  infamous  work  of  distressing 
their  former  friends ;  and  in  one  instance,  two  sisters,  who  as 
sumed  male  apparel,  their  two  brothers,  and  their  mother, 
were  apprehended  and  tried  for  their  lives,  and  the  sisters, 
with  one  brother,  were  convicted.  In  another  case,  ten  per 
sons  were  found  guilty,  among  whom  was  a  father,  aged 
seventy,  and  his  son,  a  youth  j  the  boy  was  pardoned,  but  the 
sinner  of  threescore  and  ten  was  executed. 

Wherever  there  was  defection,  conspiracy,  or  treason,  there 
were  to  be  seen  the  stealthy  footsteps  of  some  one  or  more  Loy 
alists.  Thus,  they  were  connected  with  a  plot  to  seize,  and  as 
was  believed,  to  assassinate  Washington  ;  and  with  a  plan  to 
destroy  Albany.  An  adherent  of  the  king,  and  a  relative  of 
Nathan  Hale,  recognised  him  while  on  his  perilous  service,  and 
betrayed  him  to  an  ignominious  death  without  a  trial.  A  Tory, 
who  had  been  in  the  employment  of  General  Silliman,  led  the 
band  that  took  him  prisoner.  In  the  capture  of  General  Wads- 
worth,  a  Tory  was  the  chief  instrument.  In  the  plot  to  attack 
Falmouth  from  Castine,  the  British  troops  were  to  do  all  the 
fighting,  and  the  Tories  all  the  mean  and  infamous  work. 
Those  who  hovered  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington's  camp  at 
Valley  Forge  —  when  his  soldiers  had  neither  food  nor  cloth 
ing —  to  induce  and  aid  desertions,  were  Americans.  On  the 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  75 

revolt  of  the  troops  of  Pennsylvania,  another  opportunity  oc 
curred  for  tampering  with  Whig  integrity ;  but  the  Tory  emis 
saries  were  delivered  up  by  the  men  whom  they  were  sent  to 
seduce,  and  were  hung  without  ceremony  or  delay. 

Before  the  last  named  event,  however,  the  Loyalists  had 
played  their  last  card ;  I  allude  to  the  failure  of  the  British 
commissioners  to  effect  reconciliation,  which  was  decisive  of 
the  final  issue  of  the  contest.  While  these  commissioners  were 
about  their  master's  work,  both  parties  seem  to  have  felt  that 
the  important  hour  which  was  to  determine  their  destiny  had 
come,  and  both  used  their  pens  and  tongues  to  the  utmost  of 
their  ability.  If  the  terms  of  accommodation  were  accepted, 
the  Whigs  would  be,  at  best,  only  pardoned  rebels;  while  their 
opponents,  riding  rough-shod  over  them,  would  enjoy  all  that 
a  grateful  sovereign  could  bestow.  The  attempt,  through  the 
wife  of  a  Loyalist,  to  bribe  a  member  of  Congress,  by  the 
offer  of  a  fortune  in  money,  and  the  best  colonial  office  which 
the  king  had  at  his  disposal,  to  aid  in  uniting  the  Colonies  to 
the  mother  country  again,  proved  of  incalculable  service  in 
recalling  the  doubting  and  irresolute  Whigs  to  a  sense  of  duty. 
The  story  of  the  offer,  and  Reed's  noble  reply,  were  repeated 
from  mouth  to  mouth ;  and  from  the  hour  that  the  circum 
stances  were  known,  the  Whigs  had  won,  and  the  Tories  had 
lost,  the  control  of  a  future  empire.  Henceforth,  forever,  the 
annals  of  America  were  to  contain  honorable  mention  of  " rebel" 
names,  and  the  high  office  of  ruling  the  western  hemisphere 
was  to  devolve  upon  "new  families." 

We  pass  to  take  a  rapid  view  of  the  measures  which  were 
adopted  by  the  Whigs,  to  awe  and  to  punish  their  adversaries. 
I  find  some  things  to  condemn.  And  first,  the  "  Mobs."  That 
a  cause  as  righteous  as  men  were  ever  engaged  in,  lost  many 
friends  by  the  fearful  outbreaks  of  popular  indignation,  is  not 
to  be  doubted.  The  wise  man  of  Israel  said,  "A  brother 
offended  is  harder  to  be  won  than  a  strong  city."  Those  who 
took  upon  themselves  the  sacred  name  of  "  Sons  of  Liberty," 
needlessly,  and  sometimes  in  their  very  wantonness,  "offended," 
beyond  all  hope  of  recall,  persons  who  hesitated  and  doubted, 


OR 


and  who,  for  the  moment,  claimed  to  occupy  the  position  of 
"neutrals."  The  practice  of  "tarring  and  feathering,"  how 
ever  reprehensible,  had,  perhaps,  but  little  influence  in  deter 
mining  the  final  course  of  men  of  these  descriptions.  This 
form  of  punishment,  though  so  frequent  as  to  qualify  the  say 
ing  of  the  ancient,  that  man  is  a  two-legged  animal  without 
feathers,  was  borrowed  from  the  Old  World,  where  it  has  ex 
isted  since  the  Crusades ;  and  was  confined,  principally,  to 
obnoxious  custom-house  officers,  pimps,  and  informers  against 
smuggled  goods. 

But  wtiat  "  brother,"  upon  whose  vision  the  breaking  up  of 
the  Colonial  System  and  the  Sovereignty  of  America  had  not 
dawned,  and  who  saw  —  as  even  the  Whigs  themselves  saw  — 
with  the  eyes  only  of  a  British  subject,  was  won  over  to  the 
right  by  the  arguments  of  mobbing,  burning,  and  smoking? 
Did  the  cause  of  America  and  of  human  freedom  gain  strength 
by  the  deeds  of  the  five  hundred  who  mobbed  sheriff  Tyng, 
or  by  the  speed  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  on  horse-back 
who  pursued  Commissioner  Hallowell?  Were  the  shouts  of 
an  excited  multitude,  and  the  crash  of  broken  glass  and  demol 
ished  furniture,  fit  requiems  for  the  dying  Ropes  ?  Were  Whig 
interests  promoted  because  one  thousand  men  shut  up  the 
Courts  of  Law  in  Berkshire,  and  five  thousand  did  the  same 
in  Worcester,  and  mobs  drove  away  the  judges  at  Springfield, 
Taunton,  and  Plymouth  ?  —  because,  in  one  place,  a  judge  was 
stopped,  insulted  and  threatened ;  in  another,  the  whole  bench 
were  hissed  and  hooted ;  and  in  a  third,  were  required  to  do 
penance,  hat  in  hand,  in  a  procession  of  attornies  and  sheriffs  ? 
Did  the  driving  of  Ingersoll  from  his  estate,  of  Edson  from 
his  house,  and  the  assault  upon  the  home  of  Gilbert,  and  the 
shivering  of  Se wall's  windows,  serve  to  wean  them,  or  their 
friends  and  connexions,  from  their  royal  master  ?  Did  Ruggles, 
when  subsequent  events  threw  his  countrymen  into  his  power, 
forget  that  the  creatures  which  grazed  his  pastures  had  been 
painted,  shorn,  maimed,  and  poisoned ;  that  he  had  been  pur 
sued  on  the  highway  by  day  and  night;  that  his  dwelling 
had  been  broken  open,  and  he  and  his  family  had  been  driven 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  77 

from  it  ?  What  Tory  turned  Whig,  because  Saltonstall  was 
mobbed,  and  Oliver  plundered,  and  Leonard  shot  at  in  his  own 
house  ?  *  Was  the  kingly  arm  actually  weakened  or  strength 
ened  for  harm,  because  thousands  surrounded  the  mansions  of 
high  functionaries,  and  forced  them  into  resignation  —  or  be 
cause  sheriffs  were  told,  that  they  would  perform  their  duties 
at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  ?  Which  party  gained  by  waylay 
ing,  and  insulting  at  every  corner,  the  "  Rescinders,"  the  "Pro 
testers,"  and  the  "Addressers?"  Which,  by  the  burning  of 
the  mills  of  Putnam  ?  Had  widows  and  orphans  no  additional 
griefs,  because  the  probate  courts  were  closed  by  the  multitude, 
and  their  officers  were  driven  under  cover  of  British  guns  ? 
Did  it  serve  a  good  end  to  endeavor  to  hinder  Tories  from 
getting  tenants,  or  to  prevent  persons  who  owed  them,  from 
paying  honest  debts  ?  On  whose  cheek  should  have  been  the 
blush  of  shame,  when  the  habitation  of  the  aged  and  feeble 
Foster  was  sacked,  and  he  had  no  shelter  but  the  woods  ?  — 
when  Williams,  as  infirm  as  he,  was  seized  at  night,  dragged 
away  for  miles,  and  smoked  in  a  room  with  fastened  doors  and 
a  closed  chimney-top?  What  father,  who  doubted,  wavered, 
and  doubted  still,  whether  to  join  or  fly,  determined  to  abide 
the  issue  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  because  foul  words  were 
spoken  to  his  daughters,  or  because  they  were  pelted  when 
riding,  or  moving  in  the  innocent  dance  ?  Is  there  cause  for 
wonder  that  some  who  still  live,  should  yet  say,  of  their  own  or 
of  their  fathers'  treatment,  that  "persecution  made  half  of  the 
king's  friends?  "  The  good  men  of  the  period  mourned  these 
and  similar  proceedings,  and  they  may  be  lamented  now.  The 
warfare  waged  against  persons  at  their  own  homes  and  about 
their  lawful  avocations  is  not  to  be  justified;  and  the  "Mobs" 
of  the  Revolution  are  to  be  as  severely  and  as  unconditionally 
condemned,  as  the  "Mobs"  of  the  present  day. 

The  acts  of  legislative  bodies  for  the  punishment  of  the  ad- 


*  These  cases  are  selected  from  the  many  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  docu 
ments  of  the  times,  because  the  objects  of  displeasure  were  men  of  note,  and, 
before  the  troubles,  were  held  in  great  respect. 

7* 


rO  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

herents  of  the  crown  were  numerous.  In  Rhode  Island,  death 
and  confiscation  of  estate  were  the  penalties  provided  by  law 
for  any  person  who  communicated  with  the  ministry  or  their 
agents,  or  who  afforded  supplies  to  the  forces,  or  piloted  the 
armed  ships  of  the  king.  Besides  these  general  statutes,  sev 
eral  acts  were  passed  in  that  State,  to  confiscate  and  sequester 
the  property  of  certain  persons  who  were  designated  by  name. 

In  Connecticut,  the  offences  of  supplying  the  royal  army  or 
navy,  of  giving  them  information,  of  enlisting  or  procuring 
others  to  enlist  in  them,  and  of  piloting  or  assisting  naval  ves 
sels,  were  punished  more  mildly,  and  involved  only  the  loss  of 
estate,  and  of  personal  liberty  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three 
years.  To  speak,  or  write,  or  act  against  the  doings  of  Con 
gress,  or  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut,  was  punishable  by  dis 
qualification  for  office,  imprisonment,  and  the  disarming  of  the 
offender.  Here,  too,  was  a  law  for  seizing  and  confiscating  the 
estates  of  those  who  sought  the  royal  protection,  and  absented 
themselves  from  their  homes  or  the  country. 

In  Massachusetts,  a  person  suspected  of  enmity  to  the  Whig 
cause  could  be  arrested  under  a  magistrate's  warrant,  and  ban 
ished,  unless  he  would  swear  fealty  to  the  friends  of  liberty ; 
and  the  selectmen  of  towns  could  prefer  charges  of  political 
treachery  in  town-meeting,  and  the  individual  thus  accused,  if 
convicted  by  a  jury,  could  be  sent  into  the  enemy's  jurisdiction. 
Massachusetts  also  designated  by  name,  and  generally  by  oc 
cupation  and  residence,  three  hundred  and  eight  of  her  peo 
ple,  of  whom  seventeen  had  been  inhabitants  of  Maine,  who 
had  fled  from  their  homes,  and  denounced  against  any  one  of 
them  who  should  return,  apprehension,  imprisonment,  and 
transportation  to  a  place  possessed  by  the  British ;  and  for  a 
second  voluntary  return,  without  leave,  death  without  benefit 
of  clergy.  By  another  law,  the  property  of  twenty-nine  per 
sons,  who  were  denominated  "  notorious  conspirators,"  was 
confiscated.  Of  these,  fifteen  had  been  appointed  "  mandamus 
councillors,"  two  had  been  governors,  one  lieutenant-governor, 
one  treasurer,  one  attorney-general,  one  chief  justice,  and  four 
commissioners  of  the  customs. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  79 

New  Hampshire  passed  acts  similar  to  these,  under  which 
seventy-six  of  her  former  citizens  were  prohibited  from  coming 
within  her  borders,  and  the  estates  of  twenty-eight  were  de 
clared  to  be  forfeited. 

Virginia  passed  a  resolution  to  the  effect,  that  persons  of  a 
given  description  should  be  deemed  and  treated  as  aliens,  and 
that  their  property  should  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  go  into  the 
public  treasury  for  future  disposal ;  and  also  a  law  prohibiting 
the  migration  of  certain  persons  to  that  commonwealth,  and 
providing  penalties  for  the  violation  of  its  provisions. 

In  New  York,  the  county  committees  were  authorized  to  ap 
prehend,  and  decide  upon  the  guilt  of  such  inhabitants  as  were 
supposed  to  hold  correspondence  with  the  enemy,  or  had  com 
mitted  some  other  specified  act ;  and  they  might  punish  those 
whom  they  adjudged  to  be  guilty,  with  imprisonment  for  three 
months,  or  banishment.  There,  too,  persons  opposed  to  liberty 
and  independence,  were  prohibited  from  practising  law  in  the 
courts ;  and  the  effects  of  fifty-nine  persons,  of  whom  three 
were  women,  and  their  rights  of  remainder  and  reversion,  were 
to  pass  by  confiscation,  from  them,  to  the  "people."  So,  also, 
a  parent,  whose  sons  went  off  and  adhered  to  the  enemy,  was 
subjected  to  a  tax  of  ninepence  on  the  pound  of  the  parent's 
estate  for  each  and  every  such  son ;  and,  until  a  revision  of  the 
law,  Whigs  were  as  liable  to  this  tax  as  others. 

In  New  Jersey,  one  act  was  passed  to  punish  traitors  and 
disaffected  persons ;  another,  for  taking  charge  of  and  leasing 
the  real  estates,  and  for  forfeiting  the  personal  estates  of  certain 
fugitives  and  offenders ;  and  a  third  for  forfeiting  to,  and  vest 
ing  in  the  State  the  real  property  of  the  persons  designated  in 
the  second  statute ;  and  a  fourth,  supplemental  to  the  act  first 
mentioned. 

In  Pennsylvania,  sixty-two  persons,  who  were  designated 
by  name,  were  required  by  the  executive  council  to  sur 
render  themselves  to  some  judge  of  a  court  or  justice  of  the 
peace  within  a  specified  time,  and  abide  trial  for  treason,  or  in 
default  of  appearance,  to  stand  attainted ;  and  by  an  act  of  a 
subsequent  time,  the  estates  of  thirty-six  other  persons,  who 


80  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

were  also  designated  by  name,  and  who  had  been  previously 
attainted  of  treason,  were  declared  to  be  confiscated. 

The  act  of  Delaware  provided,  that  the  property,  both  real 
and  personal,  of  certain  persons  who  were  named,  and  who 
were  forty-six  in  number,  should  be  forfeited  to  the  State, 
"  subject  nevertheless  to  the  payment  of  the  said  offenders'  just 
debts,"  unless,  as  in  Pennsylvania,  they  gave  themselves  up 
to  trial  for  the  crime  of  treason  in  adhering  to  the  royal  cause. 

Maryland  seized,  confiscated,  and  appropriated  all  property 
of  persons  in  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  appointed 
commissioners  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  three  statutes  which 
were  passed  to  effect  these  purposes. 

In  North  Carolina,  the  confiscation  act  embraced  sixty-five 
specified  individuals,  and  four  mercantile  firms ;  and  by  its 
terms,  not  only  included  the  "  lands"  of  these  persons  and 
commercial  houses,  but  their  "  negroes  and  other  personal 
property." 

The  law  of  Georgia,  which  was  enacted  very  near  the  close 
of  the  struggle,  declared  certain  persons  to  have  been  guilty 
of  treason  against  that  State,  and  their  estates  to  be  forfeited 
for  their  offences. 

South  Carolina  surpassed  all  other  members  of  the  Con 
federacy,  Massachusetts  excepted.  The  Loyalists  of  that 
State,  whose  rights,  persons,  and  property  were  affected  by 
legislation,  were  divided  into  four  classes.  The  persons  who 
had  offended  the  least, — who  were  forty-five  in  number, — 
were  allowed  to  retain  their  estates,  but  were  amerced  twelve 
per  cent,  of  their  value.  Soon  after  the  fall  of  Charleston, 
and  when  disaffection  to  the  Whig  cause  was  so  general, 
two  hundred  and  ten  persons,  who  styled  themselves  to  be  the 
" principal  inhabitants"  of  the  city,  signed  an  Address  to  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  in  which  they  state  that  they  have  every  in 
ducement  to  return  to  their  allegiance,  and  ardently  hope  to  be 
readmitted  to  the  character  and  condition  of  British  subjects. 
These  "  Addressers  "  formed  another  class.  Of  these  two  hun 
dred  and  ten,  sixty-three  were  banished,  and  lost  their  property 
by  forfeiture,  either  for  this  offence,  or  the  graver  one  of  affix- 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  8t 

ing  their  names  to  a  petition  to  the  royal  general,  to  be  armed 
on  the  royal  side.  Another  class,  composed  of  the  still  larger 
number  of  eighty  persons,  were  also  banished  and  divested  of 
their  estates,  for  the  crime  of  holding  civil  or  military  com 
missions  under  the  crown,  after  the  conquest  of  South  Carolina. 
And  the  same  penalties  were  inflicted  upon  thirteen  others, 
who,  on  the  success  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  at  Camden,  presented 
his  lordship  with  their  congratulations;  and,  still,  fourteen 
others  were  banished  and  deprived  of  their  estates,  because 
they  were  obnoxious.  Thus,  then,  the  " Addressers,"  "Peti 
tioners,"  " Congratulators,"  and  "Obnoxious"  Loyalists,  who 
were  proscribed,  and  who  suffered  the  loss  of  their  property, 
were  one  hundred  and  seventy  in  number ;  and,  if  to  these,  we 
add  the  forty-five  who  were  fined  twelve  pounds  in  the  hun 
dred  of  the  value  of  their  estates,  the  aggregate  will  be  two 
hundred  and  fifteen. 

Much  of  the  legislation  of  the  several  States  appears  to  have 
proceeded  from  the  recommendations  made  from  time  to  time 
by  Congress,  and  that  body  passed  several  acts  and  resolutions 
of  its  own.  Thus,  they  subjected  to  martial  law  and  to  death 
all  who  should  furnish  provisions  and  certain  other  articles  to 
the  king's  troops  in  New  Jersey^  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware ; 
aoad  they  resolved,  that  all  Loyalists  taken  in  arms  should  be 
sent  to  the  States  to  which  they  belonged,  there  to  be  dealt 
with  as  traitors.^) 

The  spirit  and  temper  of  some  of  the  acts  which  I  have 
noticed,  may  be  thought  severe  and  unjust.  It  is  observable, 
that  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  provided  a  difference  of 
punishment  for  the  same  class  of  offences;  and  that  New 
York  imposed  a  tax  upon  the  father  for  the  delinquency  of  the 
son.  But  these  are  matters  which  need  not  detain  us.  The 
acts  of  proscription  and  banishment,  of  attainder  and  confisca 
tion,  are  of  far  graver  import.  In  discussing  the  expediency 
and  justice  of  the  laws  which  drove  or  kept  the  Loyalists  in 
exile,  as  well  as  those  which  alienated  their  estates,  two  points 
present  themselves ;  namely,  whether  the  Whigs  were  right  in 
opposing  the  pretensions  of  England,  and  whether  they  did 


82  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

more  than  others  have  done  in  civil  wars, — wars  which  are 
always  the  most  bitter  and  unrelenting, — always  the  most  ob 
stinate  and  difficult  to  terminate  ?  The  question  suggested  by 
the  first  query,  is  no  longer  open  to  dispute,  for,  the  mother 
country  has  herself  admitted,  that  she  was  wrong  in  her  treat 
ment  of  the  thirteen  Colonies.  I  have  endeavored  to  show, 
that  the  real  issue  between  her  and  our  fathers  was,  that  she 
restrained  their  industry,  that  she  prevented  them  from  open 
ing  the  country  and  developing  its  resources.  In  what  way, 
then,  has  she  conceded  that  Whigs  of  '76  were  right?  I 
answer,  by  abandoning,  one  after  another,  the  oppressive 
measures  which  they  resisted.  Thus,  the  old  Colonies  were 
required  to  give  up  their  tea-trade  with  the  Dutch,  and  buy 
their  tea  wholly  of  the  company  who  monopolized  her  own 
market ;  but  she  now  alows  Colonial  merchants  to  get  it  in 
China,  or  wherever  else  they  will.  The  ship-owners  of  Boston, 
Newport,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  other  ports  of  the 
thirteen  Colonies,  were  restricted  to  direct  voyages  to  and  from 
the  possessions  of  her  crown ;  but  she  now  allows  those  of  St. 
John,  Quebec,  Halifax,  and  of  all  other  places  in  her  present 
dependencies,  free  trade  with  all  the  world.  The  iron  mines  of 
Pennsylvania  and  of  other  parts  of  America,  in  our  fathers' 
time,  could  not  be  opened  and  worked,  and  wool  and  cotton 
could  not  be  manufactured ;  but  now,  the  Colonists  may  forge, 
and  spin  and  weave,  and  make  or  import  machinery,  at  their 
pleasure.  Washington  was  denied  a  commission  in  her  army, 
and  preferments,  generally,  were  withheld  from  the  Colonists, 
who,  like  him,  shed  their  blood  to  extend  her  conquests  and 
maintain  the  honor  of  her  flag;  but  now,  British  Americans 
obtain  high  rank  in  each  arm  of  her  service.  It  was  formerly 
her  policy  to  discourage  interior  settlements  and  enterprises  for 
facilitating  intercourse  and  transportation;  but  she  now  en 
courages  both,  by  direct  and  frequent  legislation,  and  guaran 
tees  payment  of  money  borrowed  by  Colonists  to  open  roads 
and  canals.  Her  mandates  suppressed  a  currency  of  paper  in 
the  dependencies  which  she  lost ;  but  she  now  permits  it  in 
those  that  remain  to  her,  in  every  form  and  to  any  extent  com- 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  83 

patible  witri  safety.  The  Whigs,  then,  were  right ;  they  shat 
tered  the  Colonial  System,  and  left  it  a  mere  wreck ;  and  the 
descendants  of  the  Loyalists  are,  with  proud  satisfaction  be  it 
said,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  benefits  of  their  sacrifices  and 
labors.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  Whigs  admitted  that  the  power 
of  Parliament  extended  to  the  "  Regulation  of  Commerce," 
that  the  maritime  concerns  of  the  empire  should  be  under  the 
control  of  one  supreme  head ;  every  application  of  the  principle 
was  complained  of  as  a  grievance,  but  yet  they  conceded  the 
principle  itself.  They  set  up  a  subtle  distinction  between 
"internal  and  external  taxation,"  but  I  confess  that  I  have 
never  been  able  to  understand  it.  To  me  there  was  not,  as 
they  argued  there  was,  a  difference  either  in  theory  or  fact, 
between  demanding  postage  on  a  letter,*  and  exacting  a  duty 
on  the  " paper  "  on  which  it  is  written  ;  between  the  "stamp" 
duty  on  a  ship's  manifest  and  clearance,  and  the  impost  duty 
on  "painters'  colors  "  spread  on  her  sides  ;  the  "  glass  "  of  her 
cabin- windows',  and  the  "sugar"  "molasses,  "wine"  and 
"  tea"  stowed  under  her  deck.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  England 
has  made  concessions  in  this  particular,  which  the  Whigs  never 
asked  for,  or  even  so  much  as  imagined  they  could  rightfully 
claim.  By  the  abandonment,  therefore,  of  the  policy  which 
caused  the  Revolution,  and  of  a  principle  which  did  not  enter 
into  the  dispute,  is  it  riot  manifest  that  British  statesmen,  of 
the  last  and  the  present  reign,  themselves  admit  the  justice  of 
the  demands  made  by  our  fathers  upon  their  predecessors  ? 

If,  now,  the  Whigs  were  in  the  right,  they  might  do  every 
thing  necessary  to  ensure  success  ;  and  we  are  thus  brought  to 

*  There  was  certainly  legislation  of  Parliament  on  the  subject  of  Colonial 
post-offices  and  rates  of  postage,  some  time  previous  to  the  year  1710.  In  the 
votes  of  the  House  of  Commons  of  February  14th  of  that  year,  the  different 
rates  from  the  several  principal  towns  in  America,  are  stated  with  great  par 
ticularity,  and  the  space  occupied  by  the  details  is  equal  to  three  octavo  pages. 
The  legality  of  the  postage  "  Tax,"  was,  I  believe,  never  disputed  ;  the 
duty  or  "  Tax  "  levied  on  the  "  Stamps,"  and  the  articles  of  merchandise 
named  in  the  text,  on  the  contrary,  was  resisted,  and  forms  the  most  prominent 
point  of  the  controversy. 


84  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS^    OR 

the  second  point  of  inquiry.  The  question  of  the  banishment 
of  the  Loyalists,  addresses  itself  to  me  in  two  forms,  that  of 
the  temporary,  and  that  of  the  permanent  exile  of  the  men  who 
suffered  it.  Among  these  men  were  many  persons  of  great 
private  worth,  who,  in  adhering  to  the  crown,  were  governed 
by  conscience  and  a  stern  regard  to  duty ;  and  the  offences  of 
others  consisted  merely  in  a  nominal  attachment  to  the  mother 
country,  or  in  a  disinclination  to  witness,  or  participate  in,- the 
horrors  of  a  civil  war.  Yet  they  were  Loyalists,  and  it  so  hap 
pened,  that  the  best  men  of  that  party  were  of  all  others  those 
who  could  do  the  Whigs  the  greatest  mischief,  since,  if  they 
remained  at  liberty,  their  character  and  moderation  rendered 
their  counsel  and  advice  of  vast  service  to  their  own,  and  of 
vast  harm  to  the  opposite  party,  amidst  the  doubts  and  fears 
which  prevailed,  and  had  a  direct  tendency  to  prolong  and 
embitter  the  contest.  It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  secure 
them  either  by  imprisonment,  or  by  exile.  The  first  course, 
while  requiring  a  considerable  force  to  guard  them,  which  the 
Whigs  could  not  spare,  would  have  been  far  less  merciful  than 
the  other,  and  banishment,  of  consequence,  was  best  for  both 
parties.*  Again,  a  considerable  proportion  of  those  who  were 
proscribed,  voluntarily  abandoned  the  country,  and  were  absent 
from  it  at  the  passage  of  the  banishment  acts ;  and  this  was 
especially  the  case  in  Massachusetts.  To  prevent  the  return 
of  these  persons  was  as  necessary  to  accomplish  the  objects  of 
the  struggle,  as  it  was  to  secure  those  who  remained  at,  or  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  homes. 

Still  it  may  be  wished  that  greater  discrimination  had  been 
exercised  in  selecting  those  who  were  deemed  fit  objects  of 
severity.  Persons  whose  crimes  against  the  country  and 
against  humanity  deserved  death,  escaped  the  banishment 

*  Many  Loyalists  were  confined  in  private  houses,  some  were  sent  to  jails, 
and  others  to  "  Simsbury  Mines."  But  the  prisons  were  hardly  proper  places 
for  the  confinement  of  such  people,  hardly  of  criminals  ;  and  it  is  believed, 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  persons  whom  it  was  deemed  proper  to  arrest, 
preferred  banishment  to  the  loss  of  liberty,  even  though  they  were  sure  to  be 
comfortably  quartered  in  the  families  or  houses  of  Whigs. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  85 

acts  of  the  States  to  which  they  belonged  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  these  acts  embrace  persons  who,  from  the  cir 
cumstances  of  their  condition,  were  utterly  powerless,  who 
had  done  and  could  do  no  evil.  It  may  be  wished,  also,  that 
those  who  were  deemed  fit  objects  of  severity,  had  been  allowed 
the  forms  of  trial.  Courts  of  Admiralty  were  established  for 
condemning  prizes,  and  men  might  reasonably  claim  that, 
while  their  property  was  dealt  with  according  to  the  estab 
lished  rules  of  society,  their  persons  should  not  be  more  sum 
marily  disposed  of.  Means  for  the  trial  of  Loyalists  were 
abundant.  It  is  our  boast,  indeed,  that,  unlike  the  usual  course 
of  things  in  civil  war,  civil  government  was  maintained 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  our  Revolution,  with  hardly 
an  interruption  any  where.  This  is  a  fact  as  honorable  as  it 
is  remarkable.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  pursued  their 
usual  course  under  their  old  charters ;  Georgia  was  overrun  by 
the  king's  troops,  the  people  were  dispersed,  and  the  military 
law  was  made  paramount  to  the  civil,  or  existed  in  its  place ; 
but  the  ten  remaining  States  actually  formed  constitutions 
during  the  struggle,  most  of  them  in  the  early  part  of  it,  and 
so  well  adapted  to  their  wants  were  these  instruments,  that 
some  of  them  have  remained,  without  essential  change,  to  the 
present  time.  "I  will  maintain  as  long  as  I  live,"  said  Dupin, 
the  great  French  advocate,  "that  the  condemnation  of  Mar 
shal  Ney  was  not  just,  for  his  defence  was  not  free."  Perhaps 
posterity  will  entertain  something  of  the  same  sentiment  with 
regard  to  the  course  pursued  by  our  fathers  in  not  allowing 
their  opponents  an  opportunity  to  appeal  to  the  tribunals.  In 
this  particular,  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  as  it  will  be  re 
membered,  adopted  a  mode  less  objectionable  than  that  of 
some  other  States,  inasmuch  as  they  "  summoned"  the  per 
sons  against  whom  they  proceeded,  to  appear  and  "  surrender 
themselves  for  trial."*  Besides,  it  was  common  during  the 

*  At  least  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  Loyalists  went  in  under  the  proclamation, 
and  was  acquitted.  Chief  Justice  McKean,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  presided  at  the  trial.    His  course  gave  satisfaction  to  the  "moderate 
8 


86  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  OR 

war,  for  the  military  commanders  to  order  court-martials  to 
take  cognizance  of  the  offences,  and  to  fix  the  punish 
ment  of  Tories ;  and  a  future  generation  may  possibly  ask, 
why,  when  the  sword  was  suspended  arnid  the  turmoils  of  the 
camp,  to  hear  the  defence  of  the  accused,  that  weapon  was  so 
wielded  in  the  hands  of  civilians,  as  to  "  transform  them  into 
persecutors,  and  into  martyrs,  those  whom  it  smote." 

At  the  peace,  justice  and  good  policy  both  required  a  general 
amnesty,  and  the  revocation  of  the  acts  of  disability  and  ban 
ishment,  so  that  only  those  who  had  been, guilty  of  flagrant 
crimes  should  be  excluded  from  becoming  citizens.  Instead  of 
this,  however,  the  State  legislatures,  generally,  continued  in  a 
course  of  hostile  action,  and  treated  the  conscientious  and  pure, 
and  the  unprincipled  and  corrupt,  with  the  same  indiscrimination 
as  they  had  done  during  the  struggle.  In  some  parts  of  the  coun 
try,  there  really  appears  to  have  been  a  determination  to  place 
these  misguided,  but  then  humbled,  men  beyond  the  pale  of 
human  sympathy.  In  one  legislative  body,  a  petition  from  the 
banished,  praying  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  homes,  was 
rejected  without  a  division ;  and  a  law  was  passed  which  denied 
to  such  as  had  remained  within  the  State,  and  to  all  others 
who  had  opposed  the  Revolution,  the  privilege  of  voting  at 
elections,  or  of  holding  office.  In  another  State,  all  who  had 
sought  royal  protection  were  declared  to  be  aliens,  and  to  be 
incapable  of  claiming  and  holding  property  within  it,  and  their 
return  was  forbidden.  Other  legislatures  refused  to  repeal  such 
of  their  laws  as  conflicted  with  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  of 
peace,  and  carried  out  the  doctrines  of  the  States  alluded  to 
above,  without  material  modification.  But  the  temper  of  South 
Carolina  was  far  more  moderate.  Acting  on  the  wise  principle, 
that  "  when  the  offenders  are  numerous,  it  is  sometimes  pru 
dent  to  overlook  their  crime,"  she  listened  to  the  supplications 
made  to  her  by  the  fallen,  and  restored  to  their  civil  and  polit 
ical  rights  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  had  suffered  under 


Whigs,"  but  those  who  were  denominated  "  violent  Whigs,"  were  much  in 
censed  because  he  allowed  a  known  Tory  to  escape. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  87 

her  banishment  and  confiscation  laws.  The  course  pursued 
by  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  Virginia,  was  different. 
These  States  were  neither  merciful  nor  just ;  and  it  is  even 
true,  that  Whigs,  whose  gallantry  in  the  field,  whose  prudence 
in  the  cabinet,  and  whose  exertions  in  diplomatic  stations 
abroad,  had  contributed  essentially  to  the  success  of  the  con 
flict,  were  regarded  with  enmity  on  account  of  their  attempts 
to  produce  a  better  state  of  feeling,  and  more  humane  legis 
lation.  Had  these  States  adopted  a  different  line  of  conduct, 
their  good  example  would  not  have  been  lost,  probably,  upon 
others,  smaller  and  of  less  influence ;  and  had  Virginia,  espe 
cially,  been  honest  enough  to  have  permitted  the  payment  of 
debts  which  her  people  owed  to  British  subjects  before  the  war, 
the  first  years  of  our  freedom  would  not  have  been  stained 
with  a  breach  of  our  public  faith,  and  the  long  and  angry  con 
troversy  with  Great  Britain,  which  well-nigh  involved  us  in  a 
second  war  with  her,  might  not  have  occurred. 

Eventually,  popular  indignation  diminished ;  the  statute- 
book  was  divested  of  its  most  objectionable  enactments,  and 
numbers  were  permitted  to  occupy  their  old  homes,  and  to 
recover  the  whole  or  a  part  of  their  property ;  but  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  Loyalists,  who  quitted  the  country  at  the 
commencement  of,  or  during  the  war,  never  returned.  And  of 
the  many  thousands  who  abandoned  the  United  States  after 
the  peace,  and  while  these  enactments  were  in  force,  few,  com 
paratively,  had  the  desire,  or  even  the  means,  to  revisit  the 
land  from  which  they  were  expelled.  Such  persons  and  their 
descendants  form  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the  popu 
lation  of  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Upper  Canada. 

It  is  to  be  equally  regretted  on  grounds  of  policy,  that  the 
majorities  *  in  the  State  legislatures  did  not  remember  with 

*  I  say  majorities,  because  I  am  satisfied  that  in  almost  every  State  there 
were  minorities,  more  or  less  numerous,  who  desired  the  adoption  of  a  mode 
rate  course.  In  New  York  it  is  certain,  that  the  first  political  parties  after 
the  peace  were  formed  in  consequence  of  the  divisions  which  existed  among  the 
Whigs,  as  to  the  lenity  or  severity  which  should  be  extended  to  their  van 
quished  opponents. 


88  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,  OR 

Mr.  Jefferson,  that  separation  from  England  "was  contemplated 
with  affliction  by  all"  and  that,  like  Mr.  Adams,  many  sound 
Whigs  "  would  have  given  every  thing  they  possessed  for  a 
restoration  to  the  state  of  things  before  the  contest  began,  pro 
vided  they  could  have  had  a  sufficient  security  for  its  continu 
ance."  Then  they  might  have  done  at  an  early  moment  affer  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  what  they  actually  did  do  in  a  few  years 
afterwards,  namely,  have  allowed  the  banished  Loyalists  to  re 
turn  from  exile,  and,  excluding  those  against  whom  enormities 
could  have  been  proved,  have  conferred  upon  them,  and  upon 
those  who  had  remained  to  be  driven  away  at  the  peace,  the 
rights  of  citizens.  Most  of  them  would  have  easily  fallen  into  re 
spect  for  the  new  state  of  things,  old  friendships  and  intimacies 
would  have  been  revived,  and  long  before  before  this  time  all 
would  have  mingled  in  one  mass.  The  error  of  England  in 
perpetuating  two  distinct  races  in  Lower  Canada  just  begins  to 
be  felt,  and  has  now  compelled  a  union  of  the  two  Colonies. 
There,  as  in  our  own  case,  the  conquerors  and  the  vanquished 
should  have  been  made  one.  We  acquired  the  southern  pos 
sessions  of  France  in  America  forty  years  after  she  yielded 
up  to  British  arms  her  remaining  territories  in  the  North ;  but 
how  different  is  the  population  of  French  origin  in  Louisiana 
from  that  in  British  America  !  To  make  republican  Americans 
of  Frenchmen,  —  so  to  express  the  idea,  —  was  a  task  far  more 
difficult  than  to  unite  under  one  form  of  government  the  entire 
people  of  the  thirteen  States.  And  yet,  while  we  failed  to 
accomplish  the  latter,  how  very  nearly  have  we  already  per 
fected  the  former. 

As  a  matter  of  expediency,  how  unwise  was  it  to  perpetuate 
the  feelings  of  the  opponents  of  the  Revolution,  and  to  keep 
them  a  distinct  class,  for  a  time,  and  for  harm  yet  unknown  ! 
How  ill  judged  the  measures  that  caused  them  to  settle  the  hith 
erto  neglected  possessions  of  the  British  crown  !  Nova  Scotia 
had  been  won  and  lost,  and  lost  and  won,  in  the  struggles  be 
tween  France  and  England ;  and  the  blood  of  New  England 
had  been  poured  out  upon  its  soil  like  water.  But  when  the 
Loyalists  sought  refuge  there,  what  was  it  ?  Before  the  war, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  89 

the  fisheries  of  its  coast — for  the  prosecution  of  which  Halifax 
itself  was  founded  —  comprised,  in  public  estimation,  its  chief 
value ;  and  though  Great  Britain  had  quietly  possessed  it  for 
about  seventy  years,  the  emigration  to  it  of  the  adherents  of 
the  crown  from  the  United  States,  in  a  single  year,  more  than 
doubled  its  population.  Until  hostile  events  brought  Halifax 
into  notice,  no  civilized  people  were  poorer  than  the  inhabitants 
of  that  Colony ;  since,  in  1775,  the  Assembly  estimated  that 
twelve  hundred  pounds  currency,  a  sum  less  than  five  thou 
sand  dollars,  was  the  whole  amount  of  money  which  they  pos 
sessed.  By  causing  the  expatriation,  then,  of  many  thousands 
of  our  countrymen,  among  whom  were  the  well  educated,  the 
ambitious,  and  the  well  versed  in  politics,  we  became  the 
founders  of  two  agricultural  and  commercial  Colonies;  for  it 
is  to  be  remembered,  that  New  Brunswick  formed  a  part  of 
Nova  Scotia  until  1784,  and  that  the  necessity  of  the  division 
then  made  was  of  our  own  creation.  In  like  manner  we  be 
came  the  founders  of  Upper  Canada.  The  Loyalists  were  the 
first  settlers  of  the  territory  thus  denominated  by  the  act  of 
1791 ;  *  and  the  principal  object  of  the  line  of  division  of 
Canada,  as  established  by  Mr.  Pitt's  act,  was  to  place  them, 
as  a  body,  by  themselves,  and  to  allow  them  to  be  governed  by 
laws  more  congenial  than  those  which  were  deemed  requisite 
for  the  government  of  the  French  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  For 
twenty  years  the  country  bordering  on  the  Great  Lakes  was 
decidedly  American.  Our  expatriated  countrymen  were  gen 
erally  poor,  and  some  of  them  were  actually  without  means  to 
provide  for  their  common  wants  from  day  to  day.  The  gov 
ernment  for  which  they  had  become  exiles,  was  as  liberal  as 
they  could  have  asked.  It  gave  them  lands,  tools,  materials 
for  building,  and  the  means  of  subsistence  for  two  years ;  and 

*  It  was  in  a  debate  on  this  Bill,  that  Fox  and  Burke  severed  the  ties  of 
friendship  which  had  existed  between  them  for  a  long  period.  The  scene 
was  one  of  the  most  interesting  that  had  ever  occurred  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons.  Fox,  overcome  by  his  emotions,  wept  aloud.  Burke's  previous  course 
with  regard  to  the  French  Revolution  had  rendered  a  rupture  at  some  time 
probable,  perhaps  certain. 

8* 


90  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

to  each  of  their  children,  as  they  became  of  age,  two  hun 
dred  acres  of  land.  And  besides  this,  of  the  offices  created 
by  the  organization  of  a  new  Colonial  government,  they  were 
the  chief  recipients.  The  ties  of  kindred,  and  suffering  in  a 
common  cause,  created  a  strong  bond  of  sympathy  between 
them,  and  for  years  they  bore  the  appellation  of  "  United  Em 
pire  of  Loyalists." 

Should  it  be  replied  that  these  Colonies,  without  accessions 
from  the  newly  formed  republic,  would  have  risen  to  impor 
tance  ere  this, —  I  answer,  that  I  seriously  doubt  it ;  because, 
in  the  first  place,  of  the  thousands  who  annually  come  from 
Europe  to  America,  but  a  small  proportion  land  on  their  shores, 
and  because  the  most  of  those  who  do,  embark  again  for  the 
United  States,  notwithstanding  the  inducements  held  out  by 
the  Colonial  and  home  governments  for  them  to  settle  on  the 
territories  of  the  crown.  But  were  it  otherwise,  the  force  of 
the  remark  is  in  no  degree  diminished,  for  the  obvious  reason, 
that  had  we  pursued  a  wise  course,  people  of  our  own  stock 
would  not  have  become  our  rivals  in  ship-building,  in  the  car 
riage  of  our  great  staples,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  fisheries, 
and  in  the  production  of  wheat,  and  other  bread  stuffs.  Nor 
is  this  all.  We  should  not  have  had  the  hatred,  the  influence, 
and  the  talents  of  persons  of  Loyalist  origin  to  contend  against, 
in  the  questions  which  have,*  and  which  may  yet  come  up 
between  us  and  England.  It  is  to  be  observed,  moreover,  that 
the  operation  of  these  causes  has  been,  and  will  continue  to  be, 
no  slight  obstacle  in  the  way  of  adjusting  such  questions ;  since 
those  who  were  born  in  our  Union,  and  their  children  and  kin 
dred,  have  no  inconsiderable  share  in  determining  Colonial 
councils,  in  the  shaping  of  remonstrances  and  representations 
to  the  mother  country.  And  whoever  takes  into  view  the  fact, 
that  the  sacrifices  and  sufferings  of  the  fathers  are  well  remem- 


*  The  controversy  respecting  our  Northeastern  Boundary,  and  that  with 
regard  to  our  Rights  of  Fishing  in  the  bays  and  seas  of  British  America,  may 
be  mentioned  as  two. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  91 

bered  by  the  descendants,  and  that,  under  the  monarchical 
form,  hereditary  descent  of  official  station  is  very  common, 
will  agree  with  me  in  the  belief,  that  evils  from  this  source  are* 
far  from  being  at  an  end,  and  that  the  past  and  the  present 
foreshadow  the  future. 

Thus,  as  it  seems  to  me,  humanity  to  the  adherents  of  the 
crown,  and  prudent  regard  for  our  own  interests,  required  a 
general  amnesty.  As  it  was,  we  not  only  dealt  harshly  with 
many,  and  unjustly  with  some,  but  doomed  to  misery  others, 
whose  hearts  and  hopes  had  been  as  true  as  those  of  Wash 
ington  himself.  Thus,  in  the  divisions  of  families  which  every 
where  occurred,  and  which  formed  one  of  the  most  distressing 
circumstances  of  the  conflict,  there  were  wives  and  daughters, 
who,  although  bound  to  Loyalists  by  the  holiest  ties,  had  given 
their  sympathies  to  the  right  from  the  beginning;  and  who 
now,  in  the  triumph  of  the  cause  which  had  had  their  prayers, 
went  meekly  —  as  woman  ever  meets  a  sorrowful  lot  —  into 
hopeless,  interminable  exile. 

The  position  of  the  Whigs  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution 
was,  indeed,  beset  with  difficulties ;  but  the  error  of  those  who 
formed  the  majorities  of  the  legislatures  —  for  it  is  ever  to  be 
remembered,  that  they  were  much  divided  on  the  subject  of 
the  course  which  should  be  taken  with  the  Loyalists — consisted 
in  the  belief,  that  they  were  beset  with  dangers.  Their  "prin 
ciples  like  torches  shone  upon  their  career,"  and  the  mistake 
of  those  who  merely  erred  in  judgment,  may  be  forgotten, 
and  the  passion  of  the  excited  may  be  forgiven ;  but  yet  the 
effects  of  the  conduct  of  both  classes  remain,  to  produce  dis 
quiets,  and  to  disturb  our  relations  with  the  British  possessions 
in  this  hemisphere.  When,  in  the  civil  war  between  the  Puri 
tans  and  the  Stuarts,  the  former  gained  the  ascendency,  and 
when,  at  a  later  period,  the  Commonwealth  was  established, 
Cromwell  and  his  party  wisely  determined  not  to  banish  or 
inflict  disabilities  on  their  opponents ;  and  so,  too,  at  the 
Restoration  of  the  monarchy,  so  general  was  the  amnesty  act 
in  its  provisions,  that  it  was  termed  an  act  of  oblivion  to  the 


92  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  OR 

friends  of  Charles,  and  of  grateful  remembrance  to  his  foes.* 
The  happy  consequences  which  resulted  from  the  conduct  of 
*both  parties,  and  in  both  cases,  were  before  the  men  of  their 
own  political  and  religious  sympathies,  the  Puritans  of  the 
North,  and  the  Cavaliers  of  the  South,  in  America.  And  in 
concluding  the  topic,  I  have  again  to  express  my  regret,  that 
the  example  of  history,  added  to  impulses  of  mercy,  and 
motives  of  expediency,  failed  to  erase  from  our  statute  books 
acts,  which,  in  ages  to  come,  will  be  very  likely  to  put  us  on 
our  defence. 

The  laws  which  divested  the  Loyalists  of  their  estates, 
demand  a  moment's  examination.  Keeping  in  view  that  the 
Whigs  were  right  in  resisting  the  pretensions  of  the  mother 
country,  and  that  of  consequence  they  might  very  properly 
use  every  necessary  means  to  ensure  success,  we  shall  find  no 
difficulty  in  admitting,  that  the  property  of  their  opponents 
could  be  rightfully  appropriated  to  aid  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  war.  They  devoted  their  own  fortunes,  they  importuned 
most  of  the  powers  of  Europe  for  loans,  and  they  entailed 
upon  their  posterity  a  large  debt;  and  it  would  indeed  be 
strange,  if  they  could  not  have  made  forced  levies  upon  the 
estates  of  those  who  refused  not  only  to  help  them,  but  were 
actually  in  arms,  or  otherwise  employed  against  them,  and  on 
the  royal  side.  To  emancipate  the  American  continent  wits  a 
great  work;  the  Whigs  felt  and  knew,  what  is  now  every  where 
conceded,  that  the  work  was  both  necessary  and  righteous,  and 
requiring,  as  its  speedy  accomplishment  did.  the  labor  of  every 
hand,  and  contributions  from  every  purse,  the  throwing  into  the 
treasury  the  jewels  of  women,  and  the  holiday  allowances  of 
children ;  they  are  to  stand  justified  for  a  resort  to  the  seques 
tration  of  the  possessions  of  those  who  assisted  in  the  vain 
endeavor  to  subdue  them,  and  to  renew  the  bonds  which  had 


*  At  the  Restoration  of  Charles  the  Second,  so  general  was  the  udtirsion 
to  that  monarch,  that  historians  pause  to  express  wonder,  and  to  inquire  what 
had  become  of  the  Cromwell  or  Common-wealth  men,  who  had  overturned 
the  monarchy. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  93 

bound  them.  The  property  of  those  who  held  commissions  in 
the  king's  army  and  in  the  Loyalist  corps,  was  the  property  of 
enemies,  and,  as  such,  could  be  converted  to  public  uses  ;  while 
that  of  others,  who  made  their  election  to  accept  of  service  in 
civil  capacities,  is  to  be  regarded  in  the  same  light.  The  "  Ab 
sentees."  or  those  who  retired  from  the  country  and  lived 
abroad  in  privacy,  were  a  different  class ;  and  it  may  be 
doubted,  whether  the  same  rule  was  applicable  to  them,  and 
whether  fines  or  amercements  were  not  the  more  proper  modes 
of  procedure  against  the  estates  which  they  abandoned  in  quit 
ting  the  country.  The  Whigs  assumed,  however,  that  "every 
government  hath  a  right  to  command  the  personal  services  of 
its  own  members,  whenever  the  exigencies  of  the  state  shall 
require,  especially  in  times  of  impending  or  actual  invasion," 
and,  that  "no  member  thereof  can  then  withdraw  himself  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  government,  without  justly  incurring 
the  forfeiture  of  his  property,  rights,  arid  liberties,  holden 
under,  and  derived  from  that  constitution  of  government,  to 
the  support  of  which  he  hath  refused  his  aid  and  assistance." 

Tt  is  to  be  further  urged  in  defence  of  the  principle  of  con 
fiscation,  that  in  civil  conflicts  the  right  of  one  party  to  levy 
upon  the  other,  has  been  generally  admitted  ;  that  the  practice 
has  frequently  accorded  with  the  theory ;  and,  what  is  still 
more  to  the  purpose,  that  the  royal  party,  and  king's  generals, 
exercised  that  right  during  the  struggle.  Thus,  then,  the  seizure 
and  confiscation  of  property  in  the  Revolution,  was  not  the  act 
of  one  side  merely,  but  of  both. 

But,  as  has  been  remarked,  there  was  not  with  us,  as 
there  commonly  has  been  in  similar  outbreaks,  a  transition 
period  between  the  throwing  off  one  government  and  the  es 
tablishment  of  another,  and  the  regret  that  was  expressed  with 
regard  to  the  indiscriminate  banishment  of  persons,  is  equally 
applicable  to  the  disposal  of  their  estates;  and  I  cannot  but 
feel,  that  inasmuch  as  the  Whigs  individually,  and  as  a  body, 
were,  when  compared  with  other  revolutionists,  "without  spot 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,"  so  they  will  be  held  to  a  stricter 
accountability  by  those  who  shall  hereafter  speak  of  them ; 


94  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,   OR 

and  that  we  shall  be  asked  to  show,  for  them,  why,  with  tribu 
nals  established  and  open  for  the  trial  of  prizes  made  upon  the 
sea,  the  fundamental  rule  of  civilized  society,  that  no  person 
shall  be  deprived  of  "  property  but  by  the  judgment  of  his 
peers,"  was  violated;  and  why.  without  being  " confronted  by 
witnesses,"  and  without  the  verdict  of  a  "jury,"  and  decrees 
of  a  court,  any  man  in  America,  at  any  time,  has  been  divested 
of  his  lands. 

In  extenuation  of  the  injustice  of  the  seizure  and  forfeiture 
of  the  estates  of  Loyalists  who  were  designated  by  name,  and 
in  special  laws,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  such  acts  were  dis 
countenanced  by  some  of  the  wisest  and  purest  Whigs  of  the 
time,  who  hung  their  heads  in  shame,  and  never  ceased  to 
speak  of  the  procedure  in  terms  of  severe  reprobation.  Mr. 
Jay's  disgust  was  unconquerable,  and  he  never  would  purchase 
any  lands  that  had  been  forfeited  under  the  confiscation  act  of 
New  York.  In  further  palliation  it  may  be  said,  that  the 
wrong  was  partially  atoned  for  soon  after  the  war,  by  the  revi 
sion  of  these  laws,  and  that  several  estates  in  different  States 
were  restored  to  their  former  owners,  and  that  in  South  Caro 
lina,  especially,  but  few  were  finally  retained.  No  man  at  the 
South  had  greater  reason  to  be  inexorable  than  the  celebrated 
partisan  officer,  General  Marion ;  but,  holding  a  seat  in  the 
legislature  of  his  native  State,  when  applications  were  made 
by  the  expatriated  for  the  restoration  of  their  alienated  pos 
sessions,  he  was  one  of  the  most  liberal  members  of  that  body, 
and  generally  spoke  and  voted  in  favor  of  granting  their  peti 
tions. 

The  subject  of  restitution  and  compensation  to  the  Loyalists, 
was  a  source  of  great  difficulty  during  the  negotiations  for 
peace.  The  course  of  the  matter  may  be  learned  better  from 
the  negotiators  themselves,  than  from  any  words  of  mine ;  and  I 
therefore  make  some  extracts  from  the  Journal  of  Mr.  Adams,* 
who  was  one  of  them. 

November  3d,  1782.     "  Dr.  Franklin  on  Tuesday  last,  told 

*  Sparks's  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  Vol.  VI. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  95 

me  of  Mr.  Oswald's  demand  of  payment  of  debts,  and  com 
pensation  to  the  Tories  ;  he  said  his  answer  had  been,  we  had 
not  the  power,  nor  had  Congress.  I  told  him  I  had  no  notion 
of  cheating  any  body.  The  question  of  paying  debts,  and 
compensating,  were  two.  I  had  made  the  same  observation 
that  forenoon  to  Mr.  Oswald  and  Mr.  Strachey." 

November  10.  [Mr.  Adams  waited  on  Count  Yergennes.] 
"  The  Count  asked  me  how  we  went  on  with  the  English.  I 
told  him  we  divided  on  the  Tories  and  the  Penobscot.  The 
Count  remarked,  that  the  English  wanted  the  country  there 
'for  masts.'  I  told  him  I  thought  there  were  few  masts  there; 
but  that  I  fancied  it  was  not  masts,  but  Tories,  that  again 
made  the  difficulty.  Some  of  them  claimed  lands  in  the  terri 
tory,  and  others  hoped  for  grants  there." 

November  11.  "Mr.  Whiteford,  the  secretary  of  Mr.  Oswald, 
came.  We  soon  fell  into  politics.  [Mr.  Adams  said]  Suppose 
a  French  minister  foresees  that  the  presence  of  the  Tories  in 
America  will  keep  up  perpetually  two  parties,  a  French  party 
and  an  English  party."  "The  French  minister  at  Philadel 
phia  has  made  some  representations  to  Congress  in  favor  of 
compensation  to  the  Royalists.  We  are  instructed  against  it, 
or  rather  have  no  authority  to  do  it ;  and  if  Congress  should 
refer  the  matter  to  the  several  States,  every  one  of  them, 
after  a  delay,  probably  of  eighteen  months,  will  determine 
against  it." 

November  15.  "Mr.  Oswald  came  to  visit  me.  He  said, 
if  he  were  a  member  of  Congress,  he  would  say  to  the  refugees, 
Take  your  property ;  we  scorn  to  make  any  use  of  it  in  build 
ing  up  our  system.  I  replied,  that  we  had  no  power,  and 
Congress  no  power;  that  if  we  sent  the  proposition  of  compen 
sation  to  Congress,  they  would  refer  it  to  the  States ;  and  that, 
meantime,  you  must  carry  on  the  war  six  or  nine  months, 
certainly,  for  this  compensation,  and  consequently  spend,  in 
the  prosecution  of  it,  six  or  nine  times  the  sum  necessary  to 
make  the  compensation ;  for  I  presume  this  war  costs,  every 
month,  to  Great  Britain,  a  larger  sum  than  would  be  necessary 
to  pay  for  the  forfeited  estates." 


96  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  OR 

November  17.  "  Mr.  Vaughan  came  to  me ;  he  said  Mr. 
Fitzherbert  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Townshend,  that 
the  compensation  would  be  insisted  on." 

November  18.  "  Returned  Mr.  Oswald's  visit.  We  went 
over  the  old  ground  concerning  the  Tories.  He  began  to  use 
arguments  with  me  to  relax.  I  told  him  he  must  not  think  of 
that,  but  must  bend  all  his  thoughts  to  convince  and  persuade 
his  court  to  give  it  up ;  that  if  the  terms  now  before  his  court 
were  not  accepted,  the  whole  negotiation  would  be  broken  off." 

November  25.  "  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Jay,  and  myself,  met  at 
Mr.  Oswald's  lodgings.  Mr.  Strachey  told  us,  he  had  been  to 
London,  and  waited  personally  on  every  one  of  the  king's  cabi 
net  council,  and  had  communicated  the  last  propositions  to  them. 
They,  every  one  of  them,  unanimously  condemned  that  respect 
ing  the  Tories ;  so  that  that  unhappy  affair  stuck,  as  he  fore 
saw  and  foretold  it  would." 

November  26.  [Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Jay,  and  Mr.  Adams] 
"  in  consultation  upon  the  propositions  made  us  yesterday  by 
Mr.  Oswald.  We  agreed  unanimously  to  answer  him,  that 
we  could  not  consent  to  the  article  respecting  the  refugees,  as  it 
now  stands.  The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  endless  discus 
sions  about  the  Tories.  Dr.  Franklin  is  very  stanch  against 
them ;  more  decided,  a  great  deal,  on  this  point,  than  Mr.  Jay 
or  myself." 

November  27.  "  Mr.  Benjamin  Vaughan  came  in,  returned 
from  London,  where  he  had  seen  Lord  Shelburne.  He  says, 
he  finds  the  ministry  much  embarrassed  with  the  Tories,  and 
exceedingly  desirous  of  saving  their  honor  and  reputation  in 
this  point ;  that  it  is  reputation  more  than  money,"  foe. 

November  29.  "  Met  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  Mr.  Oswald,  Dr. 
Franklin,  Mr.  Jay,  Mr.  Laurens,  and  Mr.  Strachey,  and  spent 
the  whole  day  in  discussions  about  the  fishery  and  the  Tories. 
Mr.  Fitzherbert,  Mr.  Oswald,  and  Mr.  Strachey  retired  for  some 
time ;  and,  returning,  Mr.  Fitzherbert  said,  that  Mr.  Strachey 
and  himself  had  determined  to  advise  Mr.  Oswald  to  strike 
with  us  according  to  the  terms  proposed  as  our  ultimatum, 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  97 

respecting  the  fishery  and  the  Loyalists.     We  agreed  to  meet 
to-morrow,  to  sign  and  seal  the  treaties."  * 

Besides  the  want  of  power  in  Congress  to  make  the  de 
manded  recompense  to  the  Loyalists,  as  stated  in  these  extracts, 
there  were  other  objections,  and  some  quite  as  serious.  First, 
many  of  them,  by  their  falsehoods,  misrepresentations,  and  bad 
counsels  to  the  ministry,  had  undoubtedly  done  much  to  bring 
on,  and  protract  the  war ;  so  that,  in  a  good  measure  at  least, 
it  was  just  to  charge  them  with  being  the  authors  of  their  own 
sufferings.  In  the  second  place,  those  of  them  who  had  borne 
arms,  and  assisted  to  ravage  and  burn  the  towns  on  different 
parts  of  the  coast,  or  had  plundered  the  defenceless  families  of 
the  interior  settlements,  should  have  made,  rather  than  received, 
compensation.  Thirdly,  to  restore  the  identical  property  of 
any  had  become  nearly  impossible,  as  it  had  been  sold,  and,  in 
many  cases,  divided  among  purchasers,  and  could  only  be 
wrested  by  plenary  means  from  the  present  possessors.  Fourth 
ly,  the  country  was  in  no  condition  to  pay  those  who  had  toiled 
and  bled  for  its  emancipation,  or  even  to  make  good  a  tithe  of 
the  losses  which  they  had  suffered  in  consequence  of  the  war; 
much  less  was  there  the  ability  to  adjust  the  accounts  of  ene 
mies,  whether  domestic  or  foreign.  And  finally,  each  party, 
taken  as  a  whole,  was  bound,  as  in  all  warfare,  to  abide  the 
issue  of  the  contest,  without  claim  upon  the  other.  The  Loy 
alists,  as  a  body,  looked  upon  the  subjugation  of  the  Whigs  as 
almost  certain,  to  the  last ;  and  their  delegates  in  New  York 
even  went  so  far  as  to  entertain  a  plan  for  the  government  of 
the  Colonies,  whenever  their  day  of  triumph  should  come. 
If  that  day  had  arrived,  how  would  the  Whigs  have  fared  at 
their  hands  ?  Would  Falmouth,  in  Maine,  which  was  burned 
solely  on  account  of  troubles  with  the  Tory  merchant,  Coulson; 
would  Wyoming,  burned  and  desolated  by  the  fiend  Butler  and 
his  band  of  Tories  and  Indians  ;  would  New  Haven,  Fail-field, 

*  The  full  conversations  occupy  several  pages  of  Mr.  Adams's  Journal. 
In  making  these  extracts,  I  have  always  given  the  substance  of  what  was 
said  ;  but  I  have  sometimes  compressed  a  passage,  or  changed  a  word. 
9 


98  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

Danbury,  and  New  London,  have  been  paid  for?  Would 
the  claims  of  thousands  who  expended  their  estates  in  the 
cause  of  liberty,  and  who  had  no  shelter  for  their  heads,  have 
been  allowed  ?  Pardoned  rebels,  had  pardon  been  extended, 
would  scarcely  have  made  terms  to  cover  these,  and  other 
losses,  that  could  be  easily  enumerated ;  and  it  seems  clear, 
therefore,  that  the  whole  matter,  as  a  question  of  public  policy, 
was  rightfully  enough  determined  for  the  Loyalists,  as  it  would 
have  been  for  the  Whigs,  under  reversed  circumstances.  But 
for  all  that,  I  cannot  forget  that  some  were  wrongly  deprived 
of  their  property,  and  ought  to  have  been  considered.* 

Grounds  somewhat  similar  to  those  which  I  have  assumed 
induced  Congress,  very  probably,  to  instruct  their  commission 
ers  to  enter  into  no  engagements  respecting  the  Americans  who 
adhered  to  the  crown,  unless  Great  Britain  would  stipulate,  on 
her  part,  to  make  compensation  for  the  property  which  had 
been  destroyed  by  persons  in  her  service.  With  this  injunction 
the  commissioners  found  it  impracticable  to  comply,  inasmuch 
as  they  deemed  it  necessary  to  admit  into  the  treaty  a  provi 
sion  to  the  effect,  that  Congress  should  recommend  to  the  several 
States  to  provide  for  the  restitution  of  certain  of  the  confiscated 
estates ;  that  certain  persons  should  be  allowed  a  year  to  en 
deavor  to  recover  their  estates ;  that  persons  having  rights  in 
confiscated  lands  should  have  the  privilege  of  pursuing  all 
lawful  means  to  regain  them ;  and  that  Congress  should  use 
its  recommendatory  power  to  cause  the  States  to  revoke  or 
reconsider  their  confiscation  laws.  Congress  unanimously 


*  Mr.  Jay,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Clinton,  dated  at  Madrid,  May  6,  1780, 
says  :  "  An  English  paper  contains  what  they  call,  but  I  can  hardly  believe 
to  be,  your  confiscation  act.  If  truly  printed,  New  York  is  disgraced  by 
injustice  too  palpable  to  admit  even  of  palliation.  I  feel  for  the  honor  of  my 
country,  and  therefore  beg  the  favor  of  you  to  send  me  a  true  copy  of  it ; 
that  if  the  other  be  false,  I  may,  by  publishing  yours,  remove  the  prejudices 
against  you  occasioned  by  the  former."  Contrary  to  Mr.  Jay's  belief,  the 
copy  seen  by  him  was  authentic  ;  he  never  changed  the  opinion  of  it,  here 
expressed  to  Governor  Clinton. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  99 

assented  to  this  arrangement,  and  unanimously  issued  the 
recommendation  to  the  States,  which  the  treaty  contemplated.* 
These  terms  were  very  unsatisfactory  to  the  persons  inter 
ested,  and  to  a  part  of  the  British  public ;  and  loud  clamors 
arose  in  Parliament  and  elsewhere.  In  the  House  of  Commons, 

*  The  Articles  of  the  Treaty  which  relate  to  the  Loyalists  are  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth. 

Article  fourth.  "It  is  agreed,  That  Creditors  on  either  side  shall  meet 
with  no  lawful  impediment  to  the  recovery  of  the  full  value  in  sterling  money 
of  all  bona  fide  debts  heretofore  contracted." 

Article  fifth.  "  It  is  agreed,  That  the  Congress  shall  earnestly  recommend 
it  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  respective  States,  to  provide  for  the  Restitution  of 
all  Estates,  Rights,  and  Properties,  which  have  been  confiscated,  belonging  to 
real  British  subjects  ;  and  also  of  the  Estates,  Rights,  and  Properties  of  those 
Persons,  residents  in  Districts  in  Possession  of  his  Majesty's  Arms,  and  who 
have  not  borne  arms  against  the  said  United  States  ;  and  that  Persons  of  any 
other  description  shall  have  free  liberty  to  go  to  any  part  or  parts  of  any  of 
the  Thirteen  United  States,  and  therein  to  remain  Twelve  Months  unmolested 
in  their  endeavors  to  obtain  the  Restitution  of  such  of  their  Estates,  Rights, 
and  Properties,  as  may  have  been  confiscated  ;  and  that  Congress  shall  also 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  several  States,  a  Reconsideration  and  Revision  of 
all  Acts  or  Laws  regarding  the  Premises,  so  as  to  render  the  said  Laws  or 
Acts  perfectly  consistent,  not  only  with  Justice  and  Equity,  but  with  that 
spirit  of  Conciliation,  which,  on  the  return  of  the  blessings  of  Peace,  should 
universally  prevail.  And  that  the  Congress  shall  also  earnestly  recommend  to 
the  several  States,  that  the  Estates,  Rights,  and  Properties  of  such  last  men 
tioned  Persons  shall  be  restored  to  them,  they  refunding  to  any  Persons  who 
may  be  now  in  possession,  the  bona  fide  price  (where  any  has  been  given) 
which  such  Persons  may  have  paid  on  purchasing  any  of  the  said  Lands, 
Rights,  or  Properties,  since  the  Confiscation.  And  it  is  agreed,  That  all  Per 
sons  who  have  any  Interests  in  Confiscated  Lands,  either  by  Debts,  Marriage 
Settlements,  or  otherwise,  shall  meet  with  no  lawful  impediment  in  prosecution 
of  their  just  Rights." 

Article  sixth.  "  That  there  shall  be  no  future  Confiscations  made,  nor 
any  Prosecutions  commenced  against  any  Person  or  Persons  for  or  by  reason 
of  the  Part  which  he  or  they  may  have  taken  in  the  present  War  ;  and  that 
no  Person  shall  on  that  account  suffer  any  future  Loss  or  Damage,  either 
in  his  Person,  Liberty,  or  Property;  and  that  those  who  may  be  in  confine 
ment  on  such  charges  at  the  Time  of  the  Ratification  of  the  Treaty  in  Amer 
ica,  shall  be  immediately  set  at  liberty,  and  the  Prosecutions  so  commenced  be 
discontinued." 


100  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

Mr.  Wilberforce  said,  that  "  when  he  considered  the  case  of 
the  Loyalists,  he  confessed  he  there  felt  himself  conquered ; 
there  he  saw  his  country  humiliated  ;  he  saw  her  at  the  feet 
of  America ;  still  he  was  induced  to  believe,  that  Congress 
would  religiously  comply  with  the  article,  and  that  the  Loyal 
ists  would  obtain  redress  from  America."  Lord  North  (who 
was  more  in  opposition)  said,  that  "never  was  the  honor,  the 
principles,  the  policy  of  a  nation,  so  grossly  abused  as  in  the 
desertion  of  those  men,  who  are  now  exposed  to  every  punish 
ment  that  desertion  and  poverty  can  inflict,  because  they  were 
not  Rebels."  Lord  Mulgrave  declared,  that  "the  article  re 
specting  the  Loyalists,  he  could  never  regard  but  as  a  lasting 
monument  of  national  disgrace."  Mr.  Burke  said,  that  "  a  vast 
number  of  the  Loyalists  had  been  deluded  by  England,  and 
had  risked  everything,  and  that,  to  such  men  the  nation  owed 
protection,  and  its  honor  was  pledged  for  their  security  at  all 
hazards."  Mr.  Sheridan  "  execrated  the  treatment  of  those 
unfortunate  men,  who,  without  the  least  notice  taken  of  their 
civil  and  religious  rights,  were  handed  over  as  subjects  to  a 
power  that  would  not  fail  to  take  vengeance  on  them  for  their 
zeal  and  attachment  to  the  religion  and  government  of  the 
mother  country;  "  and  he  denounced  as  a  "  crime,"  the  cession 
of  the  Americans  who  had  adhered  to  the  crown,  "into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies,  and  delivering  them  over  to  confisca 
tion,  tyranny,  resentment,  and  oppression."  Mr.  Norton  said, 
that  "  he  could  not  give  his  assent  to  the  treaty  on  account  of 
the  article  which  related  to  the  Loyalists."  Sir  Peter  Burrell 
considered,  that  "the  fate  of  these  unhappy  subjects  claimed 
the  compassion  of  every  human  breast,  for  they  had  been 
abandoned  by  the  ministers,  and  were  left  at  the  mercy  of  a 
Congress  highly  irritated  against  them."  Sir  Wilbraham 
Bootle's  "  heart  bled  for  the  Loyalists ;  they  had  fought  and  had 
run  every  hazard  for  England,  and  at  a  moment  when  they 
had  a  claim  to  the  greatest  protection,  they  had  been  deserted." 
Mr.  Macdonald  "forbore  to  dwell  upon  the  case  of  these  men, 
as  an  assembly  of  human  beings  could  scarcely  trust  their 
judgments,  when  so  powerful  an  attack  was  made  upon  their 
feelings." 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  101 

In  the  House  of  Lords,  the  opposition  was  quite  as  violent. 
Lord  Walsingham  said,  that  "  he  could  neither  think  nor 
speak  of  the  dishonor  of  leaving  these  deserving  people  to 
their  fate,  with  patience."  Lord  Yiscount  Townshend  consid 
ered,  that  "  to  desert  men  who  had  constantly  adhered  to  loyalty 
and  attachment,  was  a  circumstance  of  such  cruelty  as  had 
never  before  been  heard  of."  Lord  Stormont  said,  that  "  Britain 
was  bound  in  justice  and  honor,  gratitude  and  affection,  and 
every  tie,  to  provide  for  and  protect  them."  Lord  Sackville 
regarded  "  the  abandonment  of  the  Loyalists,  as  a  thing  of  so 
atrocious  a  kind,  that  if  it  had  not  been  already  painted  in  all 
its  horrid  colors,  he  should  have  attempted  the  ungracious  task, 
but  never  should  have  been  able  to  describe  the  cruelty  in  lan 
guage  as  strong  and  expressive  as  were  his  feelings ; "  and 
again,  that  "  a  peace  founded  on  the  sacrifice  of  these  unhappy 
subjects,  must  be  accursed  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man." 
Lord  Loughborough  said,  "that  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty 
had  excited  a  general  and  just  indignation,"  and  that  neither 
"  in  ancient  nor  modern  history  had  there  been  so  shameful  a 
desertion  of  men  who  had  sacrificed  all  to  their  duty,  and  to 
their  reliance  upon  British  faith." 

Such  attacks  as  these  did  not,  of  course,  pass  without  replies 
in  both  Houses.  The  nature  of  the  defence  of  the  friends  of 
the  ministry  will  sufficiently  appear,  by  the  remarks  of  the 
minister  himself.  Lord  Shelburne  thus  frankly  admitted,  that 
the  Loyalists  were  left  without  better  provision  being  made  for 
them  "  from  the  unhappy  necessity  of  public  affairs,  which  in 
duced  the  extremity  of  submitting  the  fate  of  their  property  to 
the  discretion  of  their  enemies."  And,  he  continued,  "I  have 
but  one  answer  to  give  the  House;  it  is  the  answer  I  gave  my 
own  bleeding  heart.  A.  part  must  be  wounded,  that  the  whole 
of  the  empire  may  not  perish.  If  better  terms  could  be  had, 
think  yon,  my  Lord,  that  I  would  not  have  embraced  them? 
/  had  but  the  alternative  either  to  accept  the  terms  proposed,  or 
continue  the  war"  The  Lord  Chancellor  parried  the  assaults 
of  the  opposition  with  other- weapons.  He  declared,  that  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty  are  "  specific,"  and  said  he,  "  my 
9* 


102  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

own  conscious  honor  will  not  allow  me  to  doubt  the  good  faith 
of  others,  and  my  good  wishes  to  the  Loyalists  will  not  let  me 
indiscreetly  doubt  the  dispositions  of  Congress,"  since  the  un 
derstanding  is,  that  "  all  these  unhappy  men  shall  be  provided 
for,"  yet,  if  it  were  not  so,  "  Parliament  could  take  cognizance 
of  their  case,  and  impart  to  each  suffering  individual  that  re 
lief  which  reason,  perhaps  policy,  certainly  virtue  and  religion, 
required." 

It  was  not  expected,  probably,  by  the  British  government, 
that  the  "  recommendation  "  of  Congress  to  the  States  would 
produce  any  effect.  In  1778,  and  after  the  evacuation  of  Phila 
delphia,  the  request  of  Congress  to  the  same,  to  repeal  the 
severe  enactments  against  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  and  to 
restore  their  confiscated  property,  had  been  disregarded,  and  a 
similar  desire  at  the  conclusion  of  hostilities,  though  made  for 
different  reasons,  it  could  not  have  been  supposed  would  be 
more  successful.  Indeed,  the  idea,  that  the  States  would  refuse 
compliance,  and  that  Parliament  would  be  required  to  make 
the  Loyalists  some  compensation  for  their  losses,  seems  to  have 
been  entertained  from  the  first.  Lord  Shelburne,  in  the  speech 
from  which  I  have  just  quoted,  remarked,  that  "  wit/iout  one 
drop  of  blood  spilt,  and  without  one  fifth  of  the  expense  of  one 
year's  campaign,  happiness  and  ease  can  be  given  to  them  in 
as  ample  a  'manner  as  these  blessings  were  ever  in  their  enjoy 
ment"  He  could  have  meant  nothing  less  by  this  language 
than  that,  by  putting  an  end  to  the  war,  the  empire  saved  both 
life  and  treasure,  even  though  the  amount  of  money  required 
to  place  the  Loyalists  in  "  happiness  and  ease,"  should  amount 
to  some  millions ;  and  the  Lord  Chancellor,  it  may  be  observed, 
hinted  at  compensation  as  the  remedy,  provided  the  "  recom 
mendation  "  of  Congress  should  not  result  favorably.  Besides, 
during  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty,  it  appears  to  have  been 
considered  by  the  commissioners  on  both  sides,  that  each  party 
to  the  contest  must  bear  its  own  losses  and  provide  for  its  own 
sufferers. 

But  whatever  were  the  expectations  at  Paris  or  in  London,  all 
uncertainty  was  soon  at  an  end.  A  number  of  Loyalists  who 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  103 

were  in  England,  came  to  the  United  States  to  claim  restitution 
of  their  estates,  but  their  applications  were  unheeded,  and 
some  of  them  were  imprisoned,  and  afterwards  banished. 

New  York,  among  other  resolutions  on  the  subject,  stated, 
"  that  there  can  be  no  reason  for  restoring  property  which  has 
been  confiscated  or  forfeited,  the  more  especially,  as  no  com 
pensation  is  offered  on  the  part  of  the  king  and  his  adherents, 
for  the  damages  sustained  by  this  State  and  its  citizens,  from" 
the  wanton  desolation  of  "  a  great  part  of  this  State  by  burn 
ing,  not  only  single  houses  and  other  buildings,  but  even  whole 
towns  and  villages,  and  in  enterprizes  which  had  nothing  but 
vengeance  for  their  object,"  and  in  which,  "  great  numbers  of 
the  citizens  of  this  State  have,  from  affluent  circumstances, 
been  reduced  to  poverty  and  distress."  Elsewhere,  a  similar 
spirit  prevailed,  and  all  hope  of  obtaining  relief  under  the  stip 
ulations  of  the  treaty  was  abandoned. 

The  claimants  now  applied  to  the  government  which  they 
had  ruined  themselves  to  serve,  and  many  of  them,  who  had 
hitherto  been  "  Refugees  "  in  different  parts  of  America,  went 
to  England  to  state,  and  to  recover  payment  for  their  losses. 
They  organized  an  agency,  and  appointed  a  committee  com 
posed  of  one  delegate  or  agent  from  each  of  the  thirteen  States, 
to  enlighten  the  British  public,  and  adopt  measures  of  proced 
ure  in  securing  the  attention  and  action  of  the  ministry  in  their 
behalf.  In  a  tract,*  printed  by  order  of  these  agents,  it  is 
maintained,  that  "it  is  an  established  rule,  that  all  sacrifices 
made  by  individuals,  for  the  benefit  or  accommodation  of  others, 
shall  be  equally  sustained  by  all  those  who  partake  of  it ;" 
and  numerous  cases  are  cited  from  Puffendorf,  Burlamaqui,  and 
Yattel,  to  show  that  the  " sacrifices"  of  the  Loyalists  were 
embraced  in  this  principle.  As  a  further  ground  of  claim,  it 
is  stated,  that  in  the  case  of  territory  alienated  or  ceded  away 
by  one  sovereign  power  to  another,  the  rule  is  still  applicable, 
for  that  in  treatises  of  international  law,  it  is  held,  "the  State 


*  "  The  Case  and  Claim  of  the  American  Loyalists,  impartially  stated  and 
considered,"  published  in  1783. 


104  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

ought  to  indemnify  the  subject  for  the  loss  he  has  sustained 
beyond  his  own  proportion."  And  the  course  pursued  at  the 
close  of  the  civil  war  in  Spain,  when  the  States  of  Holland 
obtained  their  independence,  under  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  at 
various  other  periods,  proved  that  the  rights  of  persons  similarly 
situated  had  been  respected  and  held  inviolate.  The  conclusion 
arrived  at  from  the  precedents  found  in  history  and  diplomacy, 
and  in  the  statute-book  of  the  realm,  is,  that,  as  the  Loyalists 
were  as  "  perfectly  subjects  of  the  British  State  as  any  man  in 
London  or  Middlesex,"  they  were  entitled  to  the  same  protec 
tion  and  relief.  The  claimants,  said  the  writers  of  the  tract, 
had  been  "  called  on  by  their  Sovereign,  when  surrounded  by 
tumult  and  rebellion,  to  defend  the  Supreme  Rights  of  the 
Nation,  and  to  assist  in  suppressing  a  rebellion,  which  aimed 
at  their  destruction.  They  have  received  from  the  highest  au 
thority  the  most  solemn  assurances  of  protection,  and  even 
reward  for  their  meritorious  services  ;  "  and  that  "  His  Majesty 
and  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  having  thought  it  necessary, 
as  the  price  of  peace,  or  to  the  interest  and  safety  of  the  em 
pire,  or  from  some  other  motive  of  public  convenience,  to  ratify 
the  Independence  of  America,  without  securing  any  restitution 
whatever  to  the  Loyalists ;  they  conceive  that  the  Nation  is 
bound,  as  well  by  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Society,  as  by 
the  invariable  and  eternal  principles  of  natural  justice,  to  make 
them  a  compensation." 

At  the  opening  of  Parliament,  the  king,  in  his  speech  from 
the  throne,  alluded  to  the  " American  sufferers"  who,  from 
"  motives  of  Loyalty  to  him,  or  attachment  to  the  Mother  Coun 
try,  had  relinquished  their  properties  or  professions,"  and 
trusted,  he  said,  that  "  generous  attention  would  be  shown  to 
them."  Both  parties  assented  to  the  suggestion ;  and  a  mo 
tion  was  made  early  in  the  session  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  Bill, 
"  For  Appointing  Commissioners  to  Enquire  into  the  Circum 
stances  and  former  Fortunes  of  such  Persons  as  are  reduced  to 
Distress  by  the  late  unhappy  Dissentions  in  America."  Leave 
was  given  ;  but  in  fixing  the  details  of  the  Bill,  there  was  some 
difficulty,  and  considerable  debate.  The  measure  was  finally 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  105 

made  agreeable  to  all,  and  was  adopted  without  opposition. 
The  act,  as  passed,  created  a  Board  of  Commissioners  who 
were  empowered  to  examine  all  persons  presenting  claims  un 
der  oath,  to  send  for  hooks,  papers  and  records  ;  and  who  were 
directed  to  report  all  such  as  fraudulently  claimed  a  greater 
amount  than  they  had  lost,  in  order  that  they  should  be  de 
prived  of  all  compensation  whatever.  The  time  for  receiving 
claims  was  limited  to  March  25th,  1784,  but  the  act  was  to  re 
main  in  force  two  years.  This  time  was,  however,  found  far 
too  short,  and  the  Board  was  continued  in  commission  by  re 
newals  of  the  act  from  time  to  time,  and  did  not  finish  their 
labors  until  1789,  when  they  made  their  twelfth  and  last 
report;  and  Parliament  finally  disposed  of  the  matter  in  1790, 
seven  years  after  it  first  engaged  its  attention. 

The  first  thing  to  be  ascertained  by  the  commissioners,  was 
the  "  Loyalty  and  conduct  of  the  claimants."  In  their  first 
report,  they  divided  them  into  six  classes,*  and  very  properly 
placed  the  apostates  from  the  Whigs  in  the  last ;  but  no  differ 
ence  was  finally  made  on  account  of  the  time  or  circumstances 
of  adhering  to  the  cause  of  the  crown,  and  all,  without  refer 
ence  to  differences  in  merit,  who  were  able  to  establish  losses, 
shared  alike. 

The  commissioners  commenced  their  arduous  duties  "  by 
sending  to  the  most  respectable  and  intelligent "  of  the  persons 
interested,  "  who  might  be  most  able  and  willing  to  answer 
such  general  inquiries  as  might  tend  to  facilitate  the  investiga 
tion  of  each  particular  claim."  Most  of  those  who  appeared 
before  them  were  examined  separately,  viva  voce,  but  some 
gave  their  opinions  and  sentiments  in  writing.  The  claimants 

*  First  class.     Those  who  had  rendered  services  to  Great  Britain. 

Second  class.     Those  who  had  borne  arms  for  Great  Britain. 

Third  class.    Uniform  Loyalists. 

Fourth  class.     Loyal  British  subjects  resident  in  Great  Britain. 

Fifth  class.  Loyalists  who  had  taken  oaths  to  the  American  States,  but 
afterwards  joined  the  British. 

Sixth  class.  Loyalists  who  had  borne  arms  for  the  American  States,  but 
afterwards  joined  the  British  navy  or  army. 


106  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

were  required,  moreover,  to  state  in  proper  form  every  species 
of  loss  which  they  had  suffered,  and  for  which  they  thought 
they  had  a  right  to  receive  compensation.  In  making  up  their 
schedules  agreeably  to  this  rule,  some  sufferers  claimed  for 
losses  which  others  did  not;  and  in  adjusting  the  claims,  the 
disproportion  between  the  sum  asked  for  and  the  sum  allowed, 
was  often  very  large.  A  few  received  their  whole  demands 
without  the  deduction  of  a  shilling,  while  others  received 
pounds  only  where  they  had  demanded  hundreds,  and  a  third 
class  obtained  nothing,  having  been  excluded  by  inability  to 
prove  their  losses,  or  deprived  of  the  sum  which  they  could 
prove,  by  attempts  to  obtain  allowance  for  claims  which  the 
commissioners  reported  upon  as  fraudulent,  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  act.  The  rigid  rules  enforced,  and  which 
it  would  seem  applied  to  all  claimants,  created  much  murmur 
ing.  The  mode  pursued  of  examining  the  claimant  and  the 
witnesses  in  his  behalf,  separately  and  apart,  was  branded  with 
severe  epithets,  and  the  commission  was  called  an  "Inquisi 
tion."  But  it  is  hard  to  conceive,  why  such  a  manner  of 
eliciting  truth  should  have  been  objected  to;  it  was  well  calcu 
lated  to  expose  fraud,  and  the  dishonest  might  therefore  have 
complained  of  it.  Yet.  with  all  the  caution  which  it  was  pos 
sible  for  the  commissioners  to  exercise,  false  losses  were  pre 
sented  and  allowed,  and  men  who  did  not  really  suffer  a  single 
penny,  who  were  entirely  destitute  of  property  when  the  war 
commenced,  and  to  whom  hostilities  were  actually  beneficial, 
by  affording  pay  and  employment,  were  placed  in  comfortable 
circumstances ;  and  stories  which  show  the  plans  and  schemes 
that  were  devised  to  baffle  the  rigid  scrutiny  of  the  board  are 
still  repeated. 

In  the  first  renewal  of  the  act  by  which  the  commission  was 
created,  a  clause  was  inserted  which  authorized  the  commis 
sioners  to  send  an  agent  to  the  United  States,  and  John  Anstey, 
Esq.,  a  barrister  at  law,  was  accordingly  despatched;  and 
Colonel  Thomas  Dundas  and  Mr.  Jeremy  Pemberton,  two  mem 
bers  of  the  board,  personally  visited  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia, 
"  to  inquire  into  the  claims  of  such  persons  as  could  not,  without 


HTSTORICAL    ESSAY.  107 

great  inconvenience,  go  over  to  Great  Britain."  The  particu 
lar  duty  assigned  to  Mr.  Anstey,  seems  to  have  consisted  in 
obtaining  information  as  to  the  confiscation,  sale  and  value  of 
the  landed  estates,  and  the  total  loss  of  the  property  of  the  claim 
ants,  and  he  procured  much  valuable  and  authentic  testimony, 
not  only  to  aid  the  honest  and  correct  the  mistaken,  but  also 
to  detect  and  confound  the  dishonest. 

The  25th  of  March,  1784,  it  has  been  remarked,  was  the 
latest  period  for  presenting  claims  which  was  allowed,  and  on 
or  before  that  day,  the  number  of  claimants  was  two  thousand 
and  sixty-three,  and  the  property  alleged  to  have  been  lost,  was, 
according  to  their  schedules,  the  alarming  sum  of  £  7,046,278, 
besides  debts  to  the  amount  of  £2,354,135.  In  July  of 
that  year,  though  the  commissioners  state  that  they  had  been 
very  assiduous  in  the  discharge  of  their  trusts,  they  had  been 
able  to  examine  and  determine  the  cases  of  but  a  part  of  these 
persons,  and  had  awarded  £201,750,  for  £534,705  claimed, 
thus  reducing  the  amount  considerably  more  than  half.  The 
second  report,  which  was  made  in  December  of  the  same  year, 
shows  that  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  additional  cases  had 
been  disposed  of,  and  that  for  £  693,257  claimed,  the  propor 
tion  of  allowance  was  still  smaller,  or  £  150,935.  Much  the 
same  difference  is  to  be  seen  in  the  succeeding  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  cases,  which  were  disposed  of  in  May  and  July 
of  1785,  and  in  which  £253,613,  were  allowed  for  £898,196 
claimed.  In  April,  1786,  the  fifth  report  announced  that 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  other  claims  of  the  amount  of 
£733,311,  had  been  liquidated  at  £250*506.  The  commis 
sioners  proceeded  with  their  investigations  during  the  years 
1786  and  1787;  meantime,  South  Carolina  had  restored  the 
estates  of  several  of  her  Loyalists,  and  caused  the  withdrawal 
of  the  claims  of  their  owners,  except  that,  in  instances  of 
alleged  strip  and  waste,  amercement,  and  similar  losses,  in 
quiries  were  instituted  to  ascertain  the  value  of  what  was 
taken  compared  with  that  which  was  returned. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  1788,  the  commissioners  in  England 
had  heard  and  determined  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty 


108  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

claims  (besides  those  withdrawn),  and  had  liquidated  the  same 
at  £1,887,548.  Perhaps  no  greater  despatch  was  possible,  but 
the  delay  caused  great  complaint.  The  king,  his  ministers, 
and  Parliament,  were  addressed  and  petitioned,*  either  on  the 
general  course  pursued  by  the  commissioners,  or  on  some  sub 
ject  connected  with  the  Loyalist  claims.  Letters  and  commu 
nications  appeared  in  the  newspapers,  and  the  public  attention 
was  again  awakened  by  the  publication  of  essays  and  tracts 
which  renewed  the  statements  made  in  1783,  of  the  losses, 
services,  and  sacrifices  of  the  claimants.  Two  years  previ 
ously  (1786),  the  agents  of  the  Loyalists  had  invoked  Parlia 
ment  to  hasten  the  final  action  upon  the  claims  of  their  con 
stituents  in  a  petition  drawn  up  with  care  and  ability.  "It  is 
impossible  to  describe,"  are  words  which  occur  in  this  docu 
ment,  "the  poignant  distress  under  which  many  of  these  per 
sons  now  labor ;  and  which  must  daily  increase,  should  the 
justice  of  Parliament  be  delayed  until  all  the  claims  are  liqui 
dated  and  reported  ;  *  *  *  ten  years  have  elapsed  since  many 
of  them  have  been  deprived  of  their  fortunes,  and  with  their 
helpless  families  reduced  from  independent  affluence  to  poverty 
and  want;  some  of  them  now  languishing  in  British  gaols, 
others  indebted  to  their  creditors,  who  have  lent  them  money 
barely  to  support  their  existence  ;  and  who,  unless  speedily  re 
lieved,  must  sink  more  than  the  value  of  their  claims  when 
received,  and  be  in  a  worse  condition  than  if  they  had  never 
made  them ;  others  have  already  sunk  under  the  pressure  and 
severity  of  their  misfortunes ;  and  others  must,  in  all  proba 
bility,  soon  meet  the*  same  melancholy  fate,  should  the  justice 
due  to  them  be  longer  postponed.  But  that,  on  the  contrary, 
should  provision  be  now  made  for  payment  of  those  whose 
claims  have  been  settled  and  reported,  it  will  not  only  relieve 


*  The  reader  will  find  the  views  of  the  Loyalists  on  the  subject  of  their 
claims,  and  their  objection  to  the  course  pursued  by  the  commissioners,  in  two 
documents  inserted  in  the  biographical  notice  of  Colonel  James  De  Lancey, 
who  petitioned  Parliament,  and  addressed  Mr.  Pitt  in  their  behalf,  and  in  op 
position  to  the  commissioners. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  109 

them  from  their  distress,  but  give  a  credit  to  the  others  whose 
claims  remain  to  be  considered,  and  enable  all  of  them  to  pro 
vide  for  their  wretched  families,  and  become  again  useful 
members  of  society."  This  vivid  picture  of  the  condition  of 
those  who  waited  the  tardy  progress  made  in  the  final  adjust 
ment  of  their  losses,  is  possibly  highly  colored.  Mr.  Pitt  had 
introduced  and  carried  through,  in  1785,  a  bill  for  the  distribu 
tion  of  £  150,000  among  the  claimants,  but  as  that  sum,  it  was 
held,  was  to  be  applied  to  a  distinct  class,  namely,  to  those 
who  had  lost  "  property,"  and  to  neither  those  who  had  lost 
"life-estate  "  in  property,  nor  to  those  who  had  lost  "  income," 
it  is  not  improbable  that  many  of  these  classes  were  at  this 
time  greatly  in  want  of  the  relief,  which  their  agents  so  earn 
estly  implored  the  government  to  afford 

T  A  tract  *  printed  in  1788,  which  was  attributed  to  Galloway, 
file  distinguished  Loyalist  of  Pennsylvania,  presses  the  claims 
and  merits  of  the  sufferers  with  much  point  and  vigor,  and 
rebukes  the  injustice  of  neglecting  and  deferring  payment  of 
the  compensation  conceded  on  all  hands  to  be  due  them,  with 
singular  spirit  and  boldness,  and  states  their  situation  in  the 
following  forcible  language.  "It  is  well  known,"  says  the 
writer,  "  that  this  delay  of  justice  has  produced  the  most  mel 
ancholy  and  shocking  events.  A  number  of  the  sufferers  have 
been  driven  by  it  into  insanity,  and  become  their  own  destroy 
ers,  leaving  behind  them  their  helpless  widows  and  orphans  to 
subsist  upon  the  cold  charity  of  strangers.  Others  have  been 
sent  to  cultivate  a  wilderness  for  their  subsistence  without 
having  the  means,  and  compelled  through  want  to  throw  them 
selves  on  the  mercy  of  the  American  States,  and  the  charity  of 
their  former  friends,  to  support  the  life  which  might  have  been 
made  comfortable  by  the  money  long  since  due  by  the  British 
Government ;  and  many  others,  with  their  families,  are  barely 
subsisting  upon  a  temporary  allowance  from  Government, 
a  mere  pittance  when  compared  with  the  sum  due  to  them." 

*  "  The  Claim  of  the  American  Loyalists  reviewed  and  maintained  upon 
incontrovertible  principles  of  law  and  justice." 
10 


110  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR 

The  commissioners  submitted  their  eleventh  Report  in  April 
of  the  year  in  which  this  statement  was  made,  and  Mr.  Pitt,  in 
the  month  following,  gave  way  to  the  pressing  importunities  of 
the  claimants,  to  allow  their  grievances  to  be  discussed  in  Par 
liament.  Twelve  years  had  elapsed  since  the  property  of  most 
of  them  had  been  alienated  under  the  confiscation  acts,  and 
five,  since  their  title  to  recompense  had  been  recognized  by 
the  law  under  which  their  claims  had  been  presented  and  dis 
posed  of. 

The  minister,  meantime,  by  frequent  conferences  with  the 
commissioners,  had  made  himself  familiar  with  all  the  points 
involved  and  requiring  consideration,  and  in  expressing  his 
views,  raised  three  questions ;  first,  whether  there  should  be 
any  deduction  made  from  the  value  put  upon  the  estates  to  be 
paid  for  •  secondly,  if  any,  what  the  deduction  should  be ;  and 
thirdly,  what  compensation  should  be  made  to  the  Loyalists 
who  had  lost  their  incomes  by  losing  their  offices  and  profes 
sions.  In  his  speech,  Mr.  Pitt  laid  down  as  the  basis  of  his 
plan,  that,  however  strong  might  be  the  claims  of  either  class, 
neither  should  regard  the  relief  to  be  extended,  as  due  on  prin 
ciples  "  of  right  and  strict  justice."  In  proceeding  with  his 
remarks,  he  proposed  to  pay  all  of  six  designated  classes,  who 
consisted  of  thirteen  hundred  and  sixty  four  persons,  whose 
liquidated  losses  did  not  exceed  ten  thousand  pounds  each,  the 
full  amount  reported  by  the  commissioners ;  while,  increasing 
the  rate  of  discount  with  the  increase  of  losses,  he  proposed  a 
deduction  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the  losses  (of  persons  of  these  six 
classes)  between  ten  and  thirty-five  thousand  pounds,  and  of 
fifteen  per  cent,  on  those  between  thirty-five  and  fifty  thousand, 
and  of  twenty  per  cent,  on  those  upwards  of  fifty  thousand ; 
casting,  however,  these  several  rates  of  deduction  only  on  the 
differences  between  ten  thousand  pounds  and  the  amounts  lost 
as  reported  by  the  commissioners.^ 


*  This  plan  was  objected  to  by  the  Loyalists,  and  their  reasons  were  trans 
mitted  to  Mr.  Pitt,  in  a  document  of  some  length,  which  may  be  found  entire 
in  the  notice  of  Colonel  James  De  Lancey. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  Ill 

With  regard  to  persons  of  another  description,  and  whose 
losses  had  been  caused  principally,  if  not  entirely,  by  depriva 
tion  of  official  or  professional  income,  he  submitted  a  plan  of 
pensions.  To  those  whose  incomes  had  not  exceeded  four 
hundred  pounds,  he  considered  pensions  of  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  incomes  actually  lost  to  be  adequate ;  to  those  whose  emol 
uments  were  ascertained  to  have  been  between  four  hundred 
and  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  he  thought  two  hundred  pounds, 
and  forty  per  cent,  of  the  amount  lost  exceeding  four  hundred, 
would  be  sufficient ;  while  on  incomes  above  fifteen  hundred 
pounds,  he  would  make  a  still  further  deduction,  and  allow 
two  hundred  pounds  as  in  the  other  cases,  and  thirty  per 
cent,  on  the  difference  between  four  hundred  pounds  and  the 
real  incomes.^ 

Having  presented  his  reasons  for  the  course  which  he  re 
commended,  and  agreed  to  some  alterations  in  the  rate  of  com 
pensation  to  be  made  to  proprietors  of  land  in  America  who 
resided  in  England,  he  moved,  that  "  Provision  should  be 
made  accordingly."  The  house  assented;  and  the  commis 
sioners  were  directed  to  issue  certificates  for  sums  to  which  the 
claimants  were  respectively  entitled.  Payments  were  to  be  made 
in  debentures  of  the  government,  bearing  three  and  a  half  per 
cent,  interest,  which  was  nearly  equal  to  money  ;  these  deben 
tures,  Mr.  Pitt  suggested,  should  be  redeemed  by  instalments, 
and  by  means  of  a  lottery. 

After  this  adjustment,  several  additional  claims  were  pre 
sented,  examined,  and  allowed ;  and  upon  the  settlement  of  the 
whole  matter,  it  appeared  that  the  number  of  claimants  in  Eng 
land,  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Canada,  was  five 
thousand  and  seventy-two,  of  whom  nine  hundred  and  fifty-four 
withdrew,  or  failed  to  prosecute  their  claims ;  that  the  amount 
of  losses,  according  to  the  schedules  rendered,  was  £8,026,045, 


*  The  number  of  these  persons  was  two  hundred  and  four;  amount  of  in 
come  lost  £80,000  ;  pensions  granted  £25,785 


112  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS,    OR 

of  which  the  sum  of  £3,292,455  was  allowed.*  From  this 
sum,  the  deductions  which  have  been  mentioned  were  about 
£180,000;  leaving  for  distribution  nearly  fifteen  and  a  half 
millions  of  dollars.  The  Loyalists,  then,  were  well  cared 
for.  Whatever  were  the  miseries  to  individuals  occasioned  by 
delay  ;  whatever  the  injury  sustained  by  those  who  were  unable 
to  procure  sufficient  evidence  of  their  losses;  and  whatever 
were  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  others  by  the  errors  in  judgment 
on  the  part  of  the  commissioners;  the  Americans  who  took 
the  royal  side,  as  a  body,  fared  infinitely  better  than  the  great 
body  of  the  Whigs,  whose  services  and  sacrifices  were  quite  as 
great ;  for,  besides  the  allowance  of  fifteen  and  a  half  millions 
of  dollars  in  money,  numbers  received  considerable  annuities, 
half-pay  as  military  officers,  large  grants  of  land,  and  shared 
with  other  subjects  in  the  patronage  of  the  crown.  The  re 
wards  of  those  who  served  under  Congress,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  extremely  limited ;  and  excepting  those  who  filled  the 
public  offices  under  the  State,  and  after  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  under  the  national  govern 
ment,  few  who  served  in  the  field,  or  who  suffered  by  the  rav- 

*  The  principal  facts  with  regard  to  the  compensation  of  the  Loyalists  are 
derived  from  a  "  Historical  View  of  the  Commission,"  &c.,  by  John  Eard- 
ley  Wilmot,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Commissioners.  In  the  aggregate  amount 
claimed,  there  seems  some  discrepancy.  According  to  the  summary  of  Mr. 
Wilmot,  made  in  March,  1790,  "  the  claims  preferred  "  were  £  10, 358 ,4 13  ; 
whereas,  in  a  table  from  which  I  take  the  statistics  above,  the  amount  is  stated 
at  £8,026,045.  Again,  in  March,  1790,  it  is  said  by  Mr.  Wilmot,  that  the 
number  of  "  claims  preferred  in  England  and  Nova  Scotia  was  three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five,  of  which  were  examined  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety-one,  disallowed  three  hundred  and  forty-two,  withdrawn 
thirty-eight,  not  prosecuted  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  ;  "  that  the  amount 
of  claims  allowed  was  £3,033,091 ;  whereas,  in  the  table  which  I  have  fol 
lowed  as  giving  a  later  and  final  view,  the  claims  examined  are  stated  at  four 
thousand  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  the  amount  allowed  at  the  sum  in  the 
text ;  from  which  it  follows,  that  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
persons  recovered  only  the  difference  between  .£3,292,455  and  £3,033,91, 
or  the  small  sum  of  £259,364. 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  113 

ages  of  the  king's  troops,  obtained  considerable  or  adequate 
recompense.  In  trnth,  thousands  were  allowed  to  go  down  to 
the  grave  in  abject  want  and  destitution. 

All  the  topics  necessary  to  introduce  the  reader  to  the  Bio 
graphical  Notices  of  the  Loyalists,  have  now  been  discussed  to 
as  great  an  extent  as  the  limits  of  the  work  will  allow.  It  has 
been  my  constant  endeavor  to  speak  of  those  who  opposed  the 
Whigs,  in  the  momentous  conflict  which  made  us  an  indepen 
dent  people,  calmly  and  mildly.  For, 

"  Mercy  to  him  that  shows  it  is  the  rule 
And  righteous  limitation  of  its  act, 
By  which  Heaven  moves  in  pardoning  guilty  man  ; 
And  he  that  shows  none,  being  ripe  in  years, 
And  conscious  of  the  outrage  he  commits, 
Shall  seek  it,  and  not  find  it,  in  his  turn. ' ' 

There  are  those  among  my  countrymen,  who  imagine  that 
they  know  quite  all  that  can  be  said  of  the  causes  which  sev 
ered  the  British  empire,  and  enough  of  those  who  were  prom 
inent  actors  in  the  struggle  that  preceded  it,  and  who  seek  to 
know  no  more  of  either.  To  such  persons,  and  to  others  who. 
equally  conceited,  are  ready  to  do  battle  for  every  "  Whig," 
and  to  denounce  every  "Tory,"  these  pages  will  prove  of  no 
possible  value.  But  of  a  spirit  wholly  different  are  the  search 
ers  after  truth,  and  the  close  students  of  history.  These 
have  ascertained,  from  the  various  sources  open  to  them,  that 
all  who  called  themselves  Whigs  were  not  necessarily  and  on 
that  account  disinterested  and  virtuous,  and  the  proper  objects 
of  unlimited  praise ;  and  that  the  Tories  were  not,  to  a  man, 
selfish  and  vicious,  and  deserving  of  unmeasured  and  indis 
criminate  reproach.  Virtuous  men,  whatever  their  errors  and 
mistakes,  are  to  be  respected ;  and  with  regard  to  others,  it  is 
well  to  remember  the  beautiful  sentiment  of  Goldsmith,  that 
"  we  should  never  strike  an  unnecessary  blow  at  a  victim  over 
whom  Providence  holds  the  scourge  of  its  resentment." 

While  intending  to  be  just,  I  have  felt  that  I  might  also  be 
generous.  The  winners  in  the  revolutionary  strife  are  now 
twenty  millions  of  people;  and,  strong,  rich,  and  prosper- 
10* 


114  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,    OR    HISTORICAL    ESSAY. 

ous,  can  afford  to  speak  of  the  losers  in  terms  of  moderation. 
Besides, 

;'  Can  he  be  strenuous  in  his  country's  cause, 
Who  slights  the  charities  for  whose  dear  sake 
That  country,  if  at  all,  must  be  beloved  ?  " 

I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  history  of 
individuals  and  of  nations  has  been  delightful  to  me  from  my 
earliest  youth ;  that  the  annals  of  my  own  country  have  been  as 
diligently  studied  as  circumstances  would  permit;  and  that, 
of  all  men  of  whom  I  have  obtained  any  knowledge,  the  Whigs 
of  the  American  Revolution  have  impressed  me  with  the  great 
est  respect  and  reverence,  both  on  account  of  their  personal 
virtues,  and  the  objects  which  they  sought  to  accomplish  for 
themselves,  their  posterity,  and  mankind. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF 


AMERICAN  LOYALISTS 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


ABERCROMBIE,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

ACHINCLOSS,  ARCHIBALD.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  under 
the  act  of  1778. 

ACHINCLOSS,  THOMAS.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  In 
May,  1775,  he  wrote  a  Submission,  which  was  published,  and 
in  which  he  expressed  his  sorrow  that  "  any  part  of  his  con 
duct  should  have  given  uneasiness  to  any  friends  of  America." 
In  1778  he  was  among  those  who  were  proscribed  and  ban 
ished. 

ACHINSON,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Fensible  Americans. 

ACKER,  ABRAHAM.  Of  West  Chester  County,  New  York,  and 
a  Protester  at  White  Plains,  April,  1775. 

ACKERLY,  OBADIAH.  Of  New  York.  In  1783  he  abandoned 
his  home  and  property,  and  settled  in  New  Brunswick.  He 
died  at  St.  John  in  1843,  aged  eighty-seven.  Catharine,  his 
wife,  died  at  the  same  city  in  1830,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two. 

ACRIGG,  RACHEL.  She  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  the  crown  granted  her  a  building  lot  in  that 
city. 

ADAMS,  DOCTOR .  State  of  New  York.  In  1774,  or 

early  in  1775,  he  was  hoisted  up  and  exposed  upon  "  landlord 


118 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


Fay's  sign-post,  where  was  fixed  a  dead  catamount."  The 
party  who  inflicted  this  punishment  regretted  that  they  had 
not  tied  him  and  given  him  instead  five  hundred  lashes. 
His  residence  was  at  Arlington. 

ADAMS,  JABEZ.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  at  Reading,  who  were 
pledged  "  to  defend,  maintain,  and  preserve,  at  the  risk  of  their 
lives  and  property,  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  the  privi 
leges  of  the  subject,  from  the  attacks  of  any  rebellious  body  of 
men,  any  Committees  of  Inspection,  of  Correspondence,"  &c. 

ADAMS,  JAMES.  Of  Reading,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut. 
Was  a  member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  at  Reading. 

ADAMS,  JOHN.  Went  from  some  part  of  the  United  States  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  was  a  grantee  of  that  city, 
and  died  there  in  1820,  aged  forty-nine. 

ADAMS,  JOSEPH.  Of  Townsend,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

ADAMS,  SAMUEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser  of  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

ADAIR,  ROBERT.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

ADAMSON,  GEORGE.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  after  the  surrender  of 
Charleston. 

ADAMSON,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  After  the  surrender  of 
Charleston,  held  a  commission  under  the  crown,  and  his  estate 
was  confiscated. 

ADDISON,  A.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England,  and  in  1779 
became  a  member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  formed  in 
London. 

ADDISON,  DANIEL  DULANY.  Of  Maryland.  Was  a  captain 
in  the  Maryland  Loyalists  in  1782,  and  at  the  peace  was  a 
major  in  the  same  corps;  he  went  to  England,  and  died  in 
London  in  1808. 

ADDISON,  H.  Of  Maryland.  In  July,  1783,  was  one  of  the 
fifty-five  who  petitioned,  at  New  York,  for  lands  in  Nova 
Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  119 

AFFECK,  THOMAS.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  ordered 
to  be  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia  for  disaffection  to  the  Whig 
cause. 

AGLING,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the  Whigs 
in  1774. 

AGNEW,  JOHN.  He  was  rector  of  the  Established  Church, 
parish  of  Suffolk,  Virginia.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1775,  the 
Whig  Committee  of  Nansemond  County  called  him  to  an  ac 
count  for  the  loyalty  of  his  pulpit  performances.  He  soon  after 
quitted  that  part  of  the  country,  and  became  chaplain  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  a  Loyalist  corps.  He  finally  settled  in  New 
Brunswick,  and  died  near  Fredericton,  the  capital  of  that  colony, 
in  1812,  aged  eighty-five.  He  was  taken  prisoner  with  Stair 
Agnew  and  others  during  the  Revolution,  and  carried  to 
France.  On  the  passage  out,  the  ship  encountered  a  severe 
gale,  and  lay  a  wreck  for  twenty-four  hours. 

AGNEW,  STAIR.  Believed  to  have  been  a  son  of  the  Rever 
end  John  Agnew.  He  was  certainly  from  Virginia,  and  a 
captain  in  the  Queen's  Rangers,  and  settled  at  Fredericton, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  in  1821,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three.  He  enjoyed  half-pay.  While  attached  to  the  Ran 
gers  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  France,  and  was 
not  exchanged  until  near  the  close  of  the  war.  It  seems,  that 
at  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine  he  was  severely  wounded, 
and  while  on  his  passage  to  Virginia  for  recovery  was  captured 
by  the  French  squadron.  Franklin,  minister  to  France,  was 
appealed  to,  to  effect  his  release  and  that  of  others  made 
prisoners  at  the  same  time.  Captain  Agnew's  letter  from  the 
castle  of  St.  Maloes,  February  26th,  1782,  details  the  circum 
stances  of  his  captivity,  and  contains  some  feeling  allusions  to 
his  " aged  and  beloved  mother."  He  closes:  "Oh,  God!  who 
knows,  perhaps  she  at  this  moment,  from  an  independent 
affluence,  is  reduced  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  times  to  penury. 
My  heart,  afflicted  with  the  misfortunes  of  our  family,  can  no 

more "     He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of 

New  Brunswick  for  thirty  years,  and  a  magistrate  of  York 
County  for  a  considerable  period.  His  wife,  Sophia  Winifred, 
died  in  that  county,  in  ]  820,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two. 


120  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ALBERTSON.  In  1776,  Derrick,  Daniel  and  Albert,  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York,  professed  themselves  to  be  loyal  and  well 
aifected  subjects.  In  1783  a  party  of  Whigs  plundered  the 
house  of  Derrick  Albertson  at  North  Hempstead,  and,  among 
other  articles,  carried  off  his  wedding-shirt. 

ALBRIGHT,  JOHN.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

ALBUS,  GEORGE.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  of  cavalry  in 
the  Queen's  Rangers. 

ALDEN,  DOCTOR .  One  of  the  two  Loyalists  of  Saco  and 

Biddeford,  Maine.  An  armed  party  took  him,  placed  him  on 
his  knees  upon  a  large  cask,  and  with  their  guns  presented  to 
his  body,  told  him  to  recant  his  opinions,  or  suffer  instant 
death.  He  signed  the  required  confession,  and  was  released. 
Subsequently  he  removed  to  Scarborough,  in  the  same  State. 

ALDINGTON,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Guides 
and  Pioneers. 

ALEXANDER,  CHARLES.  Of  Norfolk,  Virginia.  In  May,  1775, 
the  Whig  Committee  published  him  as  inimical  to  America, 
and  recommended  that  all  dealings  with  him  should  be  discon 
tinued. 

ALEXANDER,  JOHN.  Of  Craven,  North  Carolina.  His  pro 
perty  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

ALEXANDER,  ROBERT.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England. 
When,  in  1783,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  State  legislatures 
refused  to  comply  with  the  recommendation  of  Congress  to 
restore  the  confiscated  estates  of  Loyalists,  he  was  appointed 
agent  for  those  of  Maryland,  to  present  and  prosecute  their 
claim  for  compensation  of  the  British  government.  He  was  in 
London  in  1788,  and  on  the  2d  of  July  signed  an  Address  to 
the  King. 

ALLAIRE,  ANTHONY.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment,  and  at  the  peace  a  captain  in  the 
same  corps.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half- 
pay.  He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  but. 
removing  to  the  country,  died  in  the  parish  of  Douglas,  in 
1838,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  121 

ALLEE,  PRESTLY.  Of  Duck  Creek,  Delaware ;  husbandman. 
In  1778  he  was  required  by  law  to  appear  and  be  tried  for 
treason,  on  or  before  August  1st,  or  suffer  the  loss  of  his  pro 
perty. 

ALLEN,  ADAM.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  Queen's  Rangers, 
and,  it  is  believed,  a  lieutenant.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that 
city.  He  received  half-pay.  In  1798  he  was  in  command  of 
a  post  at  Grand  Falls,  on  the  river  St.  John,  and  wrote  a  piece 
in  verse  descriptive  of  these  Falls,  which  his  son,  Jacob  Allen, 
of  Portland,  New  Brunswick,  sent  to  the  press  in  1845.  He 
died  in  York  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1823,  aged  sixty- 
six. 

ALLEN,  ANDREW.  Of  Pennsylvania,  son  of  Chief  Justice 
William  Allen,  and  himself  the  successor  of  Judge  Chew, 
who  succeeded  his  father.  He,  at  first,  was  found  among 
the  leading  Whigs,  and  was  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety.  In  1776  he  *put  himself  under 
protection  of  General  Howe,  at  Trenton,  and  during  the  war 
went  to  England.  He  died  at  London  in  1825,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five. 

ALLEN,  ISAAC.  A  lawyer  of  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  He  en 
tered  the  military  service  of  the  crown,  and  in  1782  was  lieu 
tenant-colonel  of  the  second  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volun 
teers.  He  had  property  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  executive 
council  of  that  State  ordered,  that,  unless  he  should  surrender 
himself,  and  take  his  trial  for  treason  within  a  specified  time, 
he  should  stand  attainted.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 
He  rose  to  distinction  -in  New  Brunswick,  and  among  other 
offices  held  a  seat  in  the  Council,  and  was  a  Judge  of  the  Su 
preme  Court.  His  residence  was  at  Fredericton,  and  he  died 
there  about  the  year  1812.  His  sister  Sarah  died  at  the  same 
place  in  1835,  aged  ninety-one. 

ALLEN,  JAMES.     Of  Philadelphia  ;  the  remaining  son  of  Chiel 
Justice  William  Allen,  and  the  only  one  of  them  who  did  not 
join  the  royal  army.     He  remained  at  home  wholly  inactive, 
11 


122  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

though  his  sympathies  were  supposed  to  be  loyal.  He  was  in 
declining  health  in  1776,  and  died  before  the  close  of  the 
following  year. 

ALLEN,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania,  a  son  of  Chief  Justice 
William  Allen.  In  1776  he  joined  the  British  under  General 
Howe,  at  Trenton.  Unlike  his  brother,  he  was  an  avowed 
Loyalist  from  the  first. 

ALLEN,  JOHN.  State  unknown.  In  1782  was  surgeon  of 
the  King's  Rangers,  Carolina. 

ALLEN,  JOLLEY.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Went  to  Eng 
land,  and  in  1779  was  in  London,  arid  one  of  the  Loyalists 
who  addressed  the  King. 

ALLEN.  Of  New  York.  Eleven  persons  of  this  name,  of 
Queen's  County,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To 
wit :  Abraham,  Daniel,  David,  Robert,  Philip,  Henry,  John, 
Philip,  Darius,  Baruch,  Andrew. 

ALLEN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania,  and  son  of  Chief  Justice 
William  Allen.  He  was  a  Whig,  and  accepted  the  commission 
of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  continental  service,  and  served 
under  St.  Clair.  But  in  1776  he  abandoned  the  cause  of  his 
country,  and  joined  General  Howe,  with  his  brothers.  In  1778 
he  raised  a  corps  called  the  Pennsylvania  Loyalists,  and,  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  was  the  commanding  officer. 
From  the  influence  of  his  family,  and  from  his  own  personal 
standing,  he  expected  to  make  rapid  enlistments  for  this  corps, 
but  was  disappointed.  In  1782,  and  near  the  close  of  the  con 
test,  though  still  in  service,  the  Pennsylvania  Loyalists  were  of 
but  little  consequence  in  point  of  numbers.  Colonel  Allen 
was  noted  for  wit,  for  good  humor,  and  for  affable  and  gen 
tlemanly  manners.  The  names  of  aH.  the  officers  under  his 
command  at  the  period  last  mentioned  will  be  found  in  this 
work. 

ALLEN,  WILLIAM.  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania.  On  the 
approach  of  the  Revolution  he  went  to  England,  and  died  Sep 
tember,  1780.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  love  of  literature 
and  the  arts  •  was  a  friend  to  Benjamin  West  when  he  needed 
a  patron,  and  assisted  Franklin  to  establish  a  college  at  Phila- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  123 

delphia.  His  father  was  an  eminent  merchant,  and  died  in 
1725.  No  person  in  Pennsylvania,  probably,  was  richer  than 
Judge  Allen,  or  possessed  greater  influence. 

ALLEN,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

ALLICOCK,  CHARLES  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of 
cavalry  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

ALLISON,  EDWARD.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Ac 
knowledged  allegiance  October,  1776.  He  entered  the  service, 
and  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's  third  battalion.  At  the 
peace  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay. 
He  died  in  that  Colony. 

ALLISON,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

ALMOND,  WILLIAM  and  JOHN.  Of  Brandywine,  Delaware. 
Were  required  to  surrender  themselves  on  or  before  August 
1st,  1778,  and  abide  legal  trial  for  treason,  or  suffer  the  loss  of 
their  property,  both  real  and  personal. 

ALSOP,  RICHARD.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In  Octo 
ber,  1776,  he  acknowledged  himself  a  loyal  and  well  affected 
subject.  In  April,  1779,  the  same  name  appears  as  an  Addres 
ser  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling. 

ALSTON,  GEORGE.  Of  Granville,  North  Carolina.  His  pro 
perty  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

ALTHOUSE,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  a  cap 
tain  in  the  New  York  Volunteers.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  city. 
He  died  in  New  Brunswick. 

ALTHOUSE,  JOHN,  Junior.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the 
New  York  Volunteers.  It  is  believed  that  he  is  still  (1845) 
living. 

ALWOOD,  JOSEPH  and  SILAS.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783,  and  received  grants  of  city  lots. 

AMBERMAN.  Six  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Isaac,  Isaac  junior,  John,  Derrick,  Nicholas,  and  Powel. 

AMBERMAN,  JOHN  and  ABRAHAM.  Were  signers  of  a  Declara 
tion  at  Jamaica  in  1775. 


124  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

AMBROSE,  MICHAEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Prince  of  Wales  American  Volunteers.  He  went  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  peace,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died  in 
the  parish  of  St.  Martin  in  that  Colony. 

AMBROSE,  ROBERT.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An 
Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

AMORY,  JOHN.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  In  1760  was  one 
of  the  fifty-eight  memorialists,  who  were  the  first  men  to  array 
themselves  against  the  officers  of  the  crown;  but  in  1778  he 
was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  went  to  England,  but  re 
turned  to  the  United  States  in  1783. 

AMORY,  THOMAS.  In  1775  was  an  Addresser  of  Governor 
Gage. 

ANCRUM,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782.  His  property  was  confiscated. 

ANDERSON,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Delaware.  A  mariner ;  was  required 
by  the  act  of  that  State,  in  1778,  to  surrender  himself  for  trial 
for  treason  on  or  before  a  certain  day,  or  his  property  would 
be  forfeited. 

ANDERSON,  JAMES.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  In 
1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  was  at  New  York 
in  July,  1783,  and  one  of  the  fifty-five  who  petitioned  for  lands 
in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard.  At  Boston,  Mr.  Ander 
son  was  a  merchant. 

ANDERSON,  JOHN.  Of  Thickety  Creek,  South  Carolina.  After 
the  surrender  of  Charleston  in  1780,  he  accepted  of  employ 
ment  under  the  crown.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant,  and  at 
the  peace  a  captain  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Carolina.  His 
estate  was  confiscated. 

ANDERSON,  PETER.  State  unknown.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city ;  he 
died  at  Fredericton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1828,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-five. 

ANDERSON.  SAMUEL.  Of  New  York.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolution  he  went  to  Canada.  He  soon  entered  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  125 

service  of  the  crown,  and  was  a  captain  under  Sir  John  Johnson. 
In  1783  he  settled  near  Cornwall,  Upper  Canada,  and  received 
half-pay.  He  held  several  civil  offices;  those  of  magistrate, 
judge  of  a  district  court,  and  associate  justice  of  the  court  of 
king's  bench,  were  among  them.  He  continued  to  reside  upon 
his  estate  near  Cornwall,  until  his  decease  in  1836,  at  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  one.  His  property  in  New  York  was 
abandoned  and  lost. 

ANDERSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  West  Chester  County,  New  York. 
Was  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  at  White  Plains  in  1775. 
He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was 
one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

ANDREWS,  JOHN,  D.  D.  Provost  of  the  University  of  Penn 
sylvania.  He  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1746,  and  educated 
at  Philadelphia.  In  1767  he  was  ordained  in  London  as  an 
Episcopal  clergyman,  and  became  a  missionary ;  and  subse 
quently  a  rector  of  Queen  Ann's  County,  Maryland.  "  Not 
partaking  of  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  times,"  he  removed  from 
Maryland,  and  was  absent  several  years.  In  1785  he  was 
appointed  to  the  charge  of  an  Episcopal  academy  at  Philadel 
phia,  and  four  years  after  received  the  professorship  of  moral 
philosophy  in  the  college  of  that  city.  In  1810  he  succeeded 
Doctor  McDowell  as  provost.  He  died  in  1813,  aged  sixty- 
seven.  Doctor  Andrews  was  considered  an  eminent  man. 

ANDREWS,  SAMUEL.  An  Episcopal  clergyman  of  Connecticut. 
His  principles  separated  him  from  his  flock,  and  he  became  the 
first  Rector  of  the  Church  of  his  communion  at  St  Andrew, 
New  Brunswick.  After  a  ministry  of  fifty-eight  years,  he 
died  at  that  place,  September  26,  1818,  aged  eighty-two. 
His  wife  Hannah  died  at  St.  Andrew,  January  1st,  1816,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five. 

ANNODS,  BASSET.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Hali 
fax  with  the  British  army. 

ANSLEY,  OZIAS.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  first  bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 
At  the  peace  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half- 
pay.  He  was  a  magistrate  and  a  judge  of  the  Common  Pleas 
11* 


126  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

for  several  years.  He  died  at  Staten  Island,  New  York,  in 
1828,  aged  eighty-five.  His  son,  the  Reverend  Thomas  Ansley, 
an  Episcopalian  clergyman  of  Nova  Scotia,  died  at  St.  Andrew, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1831,  aged  about  sixty-five.  His  grandson, 
Daniel  Ansley,  Esq.,  resides  at  St.  John. 

ANSTNETHER,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  Royal 
Garrison  Battalion. 

APPLEBY,  BENJAMIN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

APPLEEY,  ELNATHAN  and  JOSEPH.  Of  West  Chester  County, 
New  York.  Were  Protesters  against  the  Whigs  at  White 
Plains  in  April,  1775. 

APPLEBY,  JOHN.  Was  a  Cow-Boy  ;  settled  in  New  Brunswick 
at  the  peace,  and  died  in  that  Colony  about  the  year  1825. 
Sarah,  his  widow,  died  in  1828. 

APPLEBY,  THOMAS.  In  October,  1776,  signed  a  representation 
and  petition  to  Lord  Richard  and  Sir  William  Howe,  acknowl 
edging  allegiance. 

APTHORP,  CHARLES  WARD.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  was  considered  to  be  in 
office  in  1782 ;  he  had  property  in  Massachusetts,  which  was 
confiscated  by  an  act  of  that  State. 

APTHORP,  EAST.  An  Episcopal  clergyman  of  Massachu 
setts.  He  was  born  in  1733,  and  was  educated  in  England. 
In  1761  he  was  appointed  a  missionary  at  Cambridge,  by  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts ;  and 
during  his  labors  there,  was  engaged  in  a  warm  theological 
controversy  with  Doctor  Mayhew.  Retiring  to  England,  he 
died  there  in  1816,  aged  eighty-three  years.  His  wife  was  a 
niece  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  and  a  daughter  of  Judge  Foster 
Hutchinson.  His  only  son  was  a  clergyman.  One  daughter 
married  Doctor  Gary ;  one,  Doctor  Butler ;  and  a  third,  a  son  of 
Doctor  Poley :  the  husbands  of  the  two  first  were  heads  of 
colleges.  Mr.  Apthorp  was  a  distinguished  writer.  In  1790 
he  lost  his  sight. 

APTHORP,  THOMAS  and  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Both  merchants ;  were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  127 

ARDEN,  DOCTOR  CHARLES.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  In  1775 
he  was  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  against  the  Whigs.  In  1776 
he  was  accused  of  further  defection ;  and  one  of  his  offences 
consisted  in  persuading  other  adherents  of  the  crown  to  have 
no  concern  with  a  Congress  or  with  Committess.  Several  wit 
nesses  were  examined. 

ARMSTRONG,  ANDREW.  In  1782  was  an  officer  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

ARMSTRONG,  GEORGE.  Was  surgeon  of  the  Second  American 
Regiment. 

ARMSTRONG,  SWIFT.     Was  an  ensign  in  the  same  corps. 

ARMSTRONG,  WILLIAM.  He  entered  the  royal  service,  and  was 
a  captain  in  a  Loyalist  corps.  At  the  peace  he  retired  on  half- 
pay,  and,  as  is  believed,  settled  in  New  York.  In  1806  he 
joined  the  celebrated  Miranda  in  his  expedition  to  effect  the  in 
dependence  of  the  province  of  Caraccas,  and,  in  due  time,  of  all 
Spanish  America.  Captain  Armstrong  was  known  to  possess 
considerable  military  knowledge,  method,  industry  and  vigi 
lance,  and  received  a  commission  as  colonel,  and  the  command 
of  the  First  Regiment  of  Riflemen  in  the  Columbian  Army ; 
and,  as  he  had  become  familiar  with  the  duties  of  the  quarter 
master's  department,  in  the  Revolution,  he  was  created,  also, 
quartermaster-general,  with  two  assistants.  Under  Miranda, 
Colonel  Armstrong  was  extremely  unpopular,  and  was  accused 
of  "  obsequiousness  to  his  superiors,  and  of  superciliousness  and 
tyranny  in  his  treatment  of  those  in  his  power."  He  seems  to 
have  been  involved  in  many  quarrels.  While  the  Leander 
was  in  the  harbor  of  Jacquemel,  (February,  1806,)  he  and 
Captain  Lewis,  the  ship's  commander,  had  a  warm  controversy 
regarding  their  rank  and  rights  while  associated  on  ship-board. 
The  steward's  slovenly  habits  displeased  the  former,  and  he 
gave  the  delinquent  a  "hearty  rope's  ending,"  which  enraged 
Lewis,  and  drew  from  him  the  declaration,  that  every  person 
in  his  vessel  was  subject  to  his  authority,  and  should  be  punish 
ed  by  no  other.  Armstrong  insisted,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
he  would  chastise  whomsoever  he  pleased.  Both  resorted  to 
great  bitterness  of  speech  in  the  war  of  words  which  ensued. 


128  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Miranda  took  the  side  of  the  Colonel,  and  behaved  worse  than 
even  Lewis  or  Armstrong,  and1,  "before  the  storm  was  over, 
appeared  to  be  more  fit  for  bedlam  than  for  the  command  of  an 
army."  Not  long  after  this  occurrence,  the  Bee,  another  of  the 
vessels  attached  to  the  expedition,  ran  foul  of  the  flag-ship,  and 
caused  considerable  damage ;  when  Armstrong,  seizing  a  trum 
pet,  called  to  the  master  of  that  vessel,  and  bade  him  never  to 
approach  so  near  the  Leander  in  future.  Lewis,  angry  at  the 
interference  of  the  quartermaster-general,  rebuked  him  severe 
ly  for  the  act,  and  the  quarrel  between  them  was  renewed. 
In  this  instance,  Miranda  decided  in  favor  of  Lewis.  The  dis 
like  between  the  two  officers,  who  took -so  opposite  views  of 
their  right  to  supremacy,  became  settled  and  irreconcilable,  and 
a  third  quarrel  soon  occurred,  in  which  the  chief  sustained 
Armstrong;  and  Lewis,  in  the  violence  of  his  passion,  resolved 
to  resign,  and  ordered  his  servant  to  collect  his  baggage  and 
prepare  to  leave  the  ship.  A  mediator  was,  however,  found, 
and  the  dispute  apparently  settled.  At  a  subsequent  time, 
Miranda  and  the  Captain  became  involved  in  a  controversy, 
and  Armstrong  endeavored  to  produce  a  reconciliation  between 
them;  but  he  not  only  failed  in  this,  but  drew  upon  himself  the 
resentment  of  both.  Lewis  renewed  his  threat  to  resign,  and 
now  actually  threw  up  his  commission.  Besides  these  quar 
rels,  the  Colonel  had  several  others.  The  moment  the  Leander 
cast  anchor  at  Grenada,  Lieutenant  Dwyer  quitted  the  ship. 
During  the  passage,  he  had  been  in  continual  collision  with 
Armstrong,  either  on  his  own  account,  or  in  defence  of  his  offi 
cers  and  men,  whom  the  lordly  personage  assailed  with  words 
or  violence.  The  notions  of  the  Quartermaster-general  of  the 
Columbian  Army  appear  to  have  been  not  a  little  tyrannical 
and  arbitrary.  It  is  related,  that  he  kept  three  officers  (on 
very  slight  provocation)  confined  to  the  ship's  forecastle  up 
wards  of  two  weeks,  and  during  this  time  refused  them  the 
liberty  of  walking  on  the  quarter-deck  and  of  entering  the 
cabin. 

Miranda  required  of  his  officers  subscription  to  the  following 
oath.      "I  swear  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  free  people  of 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  129 

South  America,  independent  of  Spain,  and  to  serve  them 
honestly  and  faithfully  against  all  their  enemies  or  opposers 
whatsoever,  and  to  observe  and  obey  the  orders  of  the  supreme 
government  of  that  country  legally  appointed ;  and  the  orders 
of  the  general  and  officers  set  over  me  by  them."  Some  objec 
tion  was  made  to  the  form  of  this  oath,  which  the  General 
obviated  by  assurances  to  the  gentlemen  who  were  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  that  they  might  annex  to  their  signatures 
the  condition  that  they  did  not  intend  to  cancel  their  allegiance 
to  their  own  country.  After  this  difficulty  was  settled,  Arm 
strong  read  and  explained  the  Articles  of  War  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  alterations  in  form,  not  in  substance  or  spirit, 
which  had  been  made  to  adapt  them  to  the  service  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  "Notice,  gentlemen,"  said  the  Colonel, 
"  the  object  of  the  change  is  to  suit  the  wording  of  the  Articles 
to  the  local  names  and  situations  of  the  country  where  they  are 
to  take  effect.  Thus,  for  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  will 
be  substituted,  the  Army  of  South  America ;  and  for  the  Presi 
dent,  or  Congress  of  the  United  States,  will  be  used,  the 
Supreme  Authority  of  the  free  people  of  South  America,  or 
something  of  this  kind." 

The  Americans  who  had  connected  themselves  with  this  en 
terprise  were  generally  persons  of  some  ability,  but  it  is  under 
stood  that  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  in  straitened  circum 
stances,  and  that  some  were  extremely  needy.  Armstrong's 
half-pay  as  a  Loyalist  officer  might  have  prevented  him  from 
being  in  a  situation  of  destitution.  His  pay  under  Miranda 
was  fixed  at  ten  dollars  per  day,  to  commence  January  1,  1806, 
which  was  the  date  of  his  commission  of  Colonel. 

The  common  men,  sailors  and  soldiers,  were  an  ignorant 
and  undisciplined  mob,  and  the  quartermaster-general  had 
enough  to  do  to  keep  them  quiet.  As  in  his  intercourse  with 
the  officers,  his  disputes  with  them  were  continual;  hardly 
a  day  passed  without  some  one  or  more  of  them  being 
taken  to  task  for  misconduct,  or  placed  in  arrest  and  con 
finement. 

The    failure  of    Miranda   to  pay  his    officers  was   a  new 


130  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

source  of  difficulty  and  contention,  and  was  a  principal  cause 
of  bringing  matters  to  a  crisis.  John  Orford,  a  lieutenant  of 
engineers,  was  especially  importunate,  and  in  answer  to  his 
second  commmunication  on  the  subject  of  arrearages  due  to 
him,  received  the  following  letter :  — 

"  Port  of  Spain,  December  2d,  1806. 

"SiR, — By  order  of  General  Miranda,  I  have  to  inform  you, 
that  he  received  yours  of  the  twenty-ninth  ult..  the  purport  of 
which  he  conceives  to  be  highly  improper,  and  contrary  to 
every  military  principle ;  that  in  duty  to  himself,  and  for  the 
good  of  the  service,  he  thinks  it  proper  that  you  should  be  dis 
missed  from  it,  and  you  are  hereby  dismissed  from  it,  and  no 
longer  to  be  considered  as  an  officer  under  his  command. 

"I  am,  Sir,  yours, 

WILLIAM   ARMSTRONG, 

Quartermaster-general. ' ' 

"  Mr.  JOHN  OBFORD." 

Other  officers  connected  with  this  ill-starred  attempt  to  re 
volutionize  South  America,  applied  for  dismissals,  and  the 
defection  became  general.  Armstrong,  however,  retired  with 
out  notice  or  leave,  and  his  chief  accused  him  of  desertion. 
Departing  in  the  sloop  of  war  Hawk,  for  Dominica,  the  Quar 
termaster-general  of  the  Columbian  Army  took  passage  at 
that  island  for  London.  Inferior  officers,  induced  to  believe 
that  the  desertion  of  one  so  near  Miranda's  person  gave  them 
full  liberty  to  abandon  him  in  the  same  informal  manner,  re 
tired  from  his  service  without  writing  letters  of  resignation, 
though  some  of  them  did  observe  that  form  in  taking  their 
leave  of  him  and  his  fortunes.  Of  Armstrong's  career 
after  his  arrival  in  England  I  have  obtained  no  informa 
tion. 

ARNODE,  JOHN.  Of  West  Chester  County,  New  York ;  and  a 
Protester  at  White  Plains,  April,  1775.  The  name  of  Stephen 
Arnode  was  affixed  to  the  Protest  also. 

ARNOLD,   BENEDICT.     Of  Connecticut;  and  a  major-general 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  131 

in  the  Whig  army.  He  was  descended  from  the  Arnolds  of 
Rhode  Island,  an  honorable  family,  who  for  a  long  period  fig 
ured  in  the  public  affairs  of  that  Colony.  He  was  bred  an 
apothecary,  and  from  1763  to  1767  was  settled  at  New  Haven, 
as  a  druggist  and  bookseller.  His  career  in  the  Revolution  is 
too  well  known  to  require  notice  here.  I  am  inclined  to  be 
lieve,  that  Arnold  was  a  finished  scoundrel  from  early  man 
hood  to  his  grave. .  Nor  do  I  believe,  that  he  had  any  real  and 
true  hearted  attachment  to  the  Whig  cause.  He  fought  as  a 
mere  adventurer,  and  took  sides  from  a  calculation  of  personal 
gain,  and  chances  of  plunder  and  advancement.  He  was 
brave,  and  among  the  bravest  of  men  ;  and  had  the  additional 
merit  of  inspiring  troops  with  his  own  courageous  spirit.  These 
were  his  chief  merits. 

The  Loyalists  seem  to  have  known  his  character  far  better 
than  the  Whigs,  and  to  have  supposed,  that  he  favored  them 
long  before  his  treason.  There  is  proof  of  this,  from  various 
sources.  As  early  as  1778,  it  appears  from  the  private  corres 
pondence  of  Galloway,  the  leading  Loyalist  of  Pennsylvania, 
that  he  was  considered  by  the  refugees  as  lenient,  if  not  friendly 
to  them,  and  in  this  light  was  represented  to  the  British  min 
istry.  Thus,  Charles  Stewart,  under  date  of  December  17, 
1778,  wrote:  "General  Arnold  is  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  said 
that  he  will  be  discharged,  being  thought  a  pert  Tory.  Certain 
it  is,  that  he  associates  mostly  with  these  people,  and  is  to  be 
married  to  Miss  Shippen,  daughter  of  Edward  Shippen,  Esq." 
David  Sproat,  on  the  llth  of  January,  1779,  said  :  "You  will 
also  hear  that  General  Arnold,  commandant  in  Philadelphia, 
has  behaved  with  lenity  to  the  Tories,  and  that  he  is  on  the 
eve  of  marriage  to  one  of  Edward  Shippen's  daughters." 

No  honorable  man  would  have  formed  a  copartnership  with 
others  for  purchasing  goods  within  the  enemy's  lines  as  he  did, 
and  to  the  enormous  amount  of  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars.  And  no  honest  man  would  have  lived,  could  have 
lived  as  he  did,  while  at  Philadelphia.  His  play,  his  balls, 
his  concerts,  his  banquets,  were  enough  to  have  impaired  the 
fortune  of  an  European  noble.  His  house  was  the  best  in 


132 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


the  city,  and  had  been  the  mansion  of  Penn,  the  last  royal 
governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  descendant  of  the  illustri 
ous  founder  of  the  Colony.  This  dwelling  he  furnished  mag 
nificently,  kept  his  coach  and  four,  and  a  numerous  retinue  of 
servants,  and  indulged  in  every  kind  of  luxury,  and  ostenta 
tious  and  vain  profusion  and  display. 

Among  the  many  families  who  had  kept  up  close  inti 
macy  with  the  British  officers  while  Howe  held  Philadel 
phia,  and  who  were  known  to  be  disaffected  to  the  Whig 
cause,  was  that  of  Edward  Shippen.  The  Shippens  were 
of  the  first  rank  there,  and  are  of  distinction  to  this  day. 
The  youngest  daughter  of  Edward  was  under  the  age  of 
eighteen,  was  gay,  beautiful,  attractive,  and  ambitious.  She 
had  been  admired  and  flattered  by  Howe's  officers,  and  was 
a  conspicuous  personage  at  the  gorgeous  fete  and  festival 
given  by  them  on  the  occasion  of  Sir  William's  departure  for 
Europe.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  her  acquaintance  with 
the  ill-fated  Andre,  was  familiar,  and  that  she  corresponded 
with  him,  after  the  British  army  had  retired  to  New  York 
and  before  the  treason.  And  this  lady  became  the  wife  of  a 
Whig  general ;  of  a  general  in  the  pay  of  a  poor,  distressed, 
and  exhausted  country.  The  splendor,  the  equipage,  the 
military  display  of  Arnold,  captivated  her,  and  their  destiny 
became  one. 

But  Arnold  should  have  the  benefit  of  every  circumstance 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  any,  can  lessen  or  palliate  his  guilt. 
Beyond  all  doubt,  then,  Congress  treated  him  unjustly.  If  his 
case  had  never  been  submitted  to  that  body,  or  if  it  had  been 
examined  and  disposed  of  by  Washington,  it  is  certainly 
possible  that  his  career  might  have  terminated  far  less  dis 
honorably. 

He  was  made  a  brigadier-general  in  the  British  service,  and 
received  a  large  amount  of  gold  to  cover  his  alleged  losses  in 
deserting  the  standard  of  his  country.  But  his  commission 
was  dyed  with  a  gentleman's  blood.  His  acquisition  cost  the 
British  army  the  life  of  one  of  its  most  accomplished  officers. 
In  1782  he  commanded  the  American  Legion.  After  Arnold 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  133 

went  to  England,  Mr.  Van  Shaack,  a  New  York  Loyalist,  who 
was  also  there,  paid  a  visit  to  Westminster  Abbey.  "  His 
musings  were  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  a  gentleman 
accompanied  by  a  lady.  It  was  General  Arnold,  and  the  lady 
was  doubtless  Mrs.  Arnold.  They  passed  to  the  cenotaph  of 
Major  Andre,  where  they  stood  and  conversed  together.  What 
a  spectacle !  The  traitor  Arnold  in  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the 
tomb  of  Andre,  deliberately  perusing  the  monumental  inscrip 
tion  which  will  transmit  to  future  ages  the  tale  of  his  own 
infamy.  The  scene,  with  the  associations  which  naturally 
crowded  upon  the  mind,  was  calculated  to  excite  various  emo 
tions  in  an  American  bosom ;  and  Mr.  Van  Shaack  turned 
from  it  with  disgust." 

From  the  conclusion  of  the  war  till  his  death,  Arnold  resided 
chiefly  in  England ;  but  for  awhile  he  was  engaged  in  trade 
and  navigation  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  was  disliked, 
was  unpopular,  and  even  hated  at  St.  John.  Persons  of  that 
city  still  relate  instances  of  his  perfidy  and  meanness ;  some 
who  knew  him  are  yet  alive.  George  Gilbert,  Esquire,  (a  son 
of  Bradford  Gilbert,  who  was  a  Massachusetts  Loyalist,)  has 
now  (August,  1846)  twelve  chairs  which  are  called  the  Trai 
tor's  Chairs,  and  which  were  carried  from  England  to  St.  John 
by  Arnold.  When  he  removed  from  New  Brunswick  he  sold 
them  to  the  first  Judge  Chipman,  who,  after  keeping  them  some 
years,  sold  them  to  their  present  possessor.  They  are  of  a 
French  pattern,  are  large,  and  covered  with  blue  figured  dam 
ask  ;  the  wood- work  is  white,  highly  polished  or  enamelled, 
and  striped  with  gold. 

General  Arnold  owned  the  first  ship  which  was  built  in  New 
Brunswick.  It  is  said  that  he  obtained  this  vessel  of  the 
builder,  who  was  unable  to  procure  the  necessary  sails  and 
rigging,  and  who  unfortunately  was  in  his  power,  by  fraud. 

He  died  in  London  in  1801,  and  Margaret,  his  widow,  died 
in  the  same  city  in  1804,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-three. 

Of  General  Arnold's  personal  career,  Mr.  Sparks  has  left 
nothing  to  be  recorded,  but  I  may  state  some  additional  partic 
ulars  of  his  family.     When  he  removed  from  New  Brunswick, 
12 


134  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

he  seems  to  have  been  the  father  of  seven  children.  His  first 
wife  bore  him  Benedict,  Richard,  and  Henry.  Benedict  was 
an  officer  of  artillery  in  the  British  army,  and,  it  is  believed, 
was  compelled  to  quit  the  service ;  he  died  young  in  the  West 
Indies.  The  children  by  his  second  marriage,  were  James 
Robertson,  Edward,  George,  and  Sophia.  James  Robertson,  I 
conclude,  was  the  only  one  of  these  four  born  in  the  United 
States.  At  the  time  of  the  treason  he  was  a  child,  and  had 
just  reached  West  Point  from  Philadelphia,  with  his  mother. 
He  entered  the  British  army,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel  of 
engineers.  He  was  stationed  at  Bermuda  from  1816  to  1818, 
and  from  the  last  named  year  until  1823  was  at  Halifax,  and 
the  commanding  officer  of  engineers  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick.  While  thus  in  command  he  was  at  St.  John,  and 
on  going  into  the  house  built  by  his  father  in  King  street  (which 
is  still  standing),  wept,  as  my  informant  states,  like  a  child. 
His  wife  was  a  Miss  Goodrich  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  He  is  a 
small  man,  has  eyes  of  remarkable  sharpness,  arid  in  features 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  his  father.  A  gentleman  who 
has  been  in  service  with  him,  and  is  intimately  acquainted  with 
him,  speaks  of  him  in  terms  of  high  commendation,  and  relates 
that  he  expressed  a  desire  to  visit  the  United  States.  Since  the 
accession  of  Queen  Victoria,  he  has  been  one  of  her  Majesty's 
aids-de-camp.  In  1841  he  was  transferred  from  the  engineer 
corps,  and  is  now  (1846)  a  major-general,  and  a  Knight  of  the 
Royal  Hanoverian  Guelphic  Order. 

Edward,  some  years  ago,  was  in  a  banking-house  in  England. 
George,  in  1816,  was  an  officer  of  dragoons.  Sophia  was  an 
infant  when  her  parents  departed  from  America,  and  her  fate 
is  unknown  to  those  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  informa 
tion  here  given.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  first  General 
Arnold's  mother  had  six  children,  of  whom  he  and  his  sister 
Hannah  alone  lived  to  the  years  of  maturity.  This  sister 
adhered  to  her  brother  Benedict  throughout  his  eventful  and 
guilty  career,  and  was  true  to  him  in  the  darkest  periods 
of  his  history.  She  died  at  Montague  in  Upper  Canada  in 
18U3,  and  was,  as  is  uniformly  stated,  a  lady  of  excellent 
qualities  of  character. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  135 

ARNOLD,  HENRY.  A  son  of  General  Arnold  by  his  first  mar 
riage.  He  entered  the  king's  service  after  his  father's  defection, 
and  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  American  Legion.  He 
accompanied  his  father  to  St.  John,  and  was  employed  in  his 
business.  He  slept  in  the  warehouse  near  Lower  Cove  in 
that  city,  and  lodged  there  the  night  the  building  was  burned. 
He  lived  afterwards  at  Troy,  New  York,  with  his  aunt  Han 
nah,  and  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  At  a  subsequent 
period,  he  removed  to  Canada,  where,  in  1829,  he  was  a  man 
of  property.  He  received  half-pay,  and  a  grant  of  lands  from 
the  British  government. 

ARNOLD,  OLIVER.  Of  Conecticut.  He  was  born  in  that 
State,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College.  He  went  to  St.  John  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  Having 
labored  some  years  as  an  Episcopal  missionary,  he  was  in 
ducted  into  office  as  rector  of  Sussex,  New  Brunswick,  and 
finished  his  course  in  that  capacity  in  1834,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine.  He  was  ardently  attached  to  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  was  regarded  as  an  excellent  man.  In  domestic 
life  he  was  peculiarly  kind  and  affectionate. 

ARNOLD,  RICHARD.  Brother  of  Henry.  In  1782  he  was 
also  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  American  Legion,  com 
manded  by  his  father.  In  every  particular  his  history,  down 
to  the  year  1829,  is  identical  with  that  of  his  brother  Henry, 
and  need  not,  therefore,  be  repeated.  Persons  are  still  living  at 
St.  John,  who  resided  there  when  General  Arnold's  store  was 
burned.  The  impression  was,  at  the  moment,  and  still  is,  that 
the  fire  was  caused  by  design,  and  for  the  purpose  of  defraud 
ing  a  company  in  England,  that  had  underwritten  upon  the 
merchandise  which  it  contained,  to  an  amount  far  exceeding 
its  worth.  These  persons  differ  as  to  the  fact,  whether  Arnold 
himself  was  at  St.  John,  or  absent  in  England,  at  the  time  of 
the  fire ;  and  hence,  the  degree  of  blame  which  should  be 
attached  to  the  two  sons  may  be  uncertain.  That  both  Henry 
and  Richard  slept  in  the  store  on  the  night  of  the  conflagration, 
and  that  neither  could  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  its  cause, 
seems,  however,  to  be  certain. 


136  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ARNOTT,  HUGH.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the  American 
Legion  under  Arnold. 

ASEY,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in 
1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year.  In 
July  of  1774,  a  Boston  Whig  wrote  to  a  friend  at  New  York 
as  follows :  "  The  Addressers  of  Mr.  Hutchinson,  and  the 
Protesters  against  our  public  measures,  lead  a  devil  of  a  life. 
Inthe  country  the  people  will  not  grind  their  corn,  and  in 
the  town  they  refuse  to  purchase  from,  and  sell  to,  them." 

ASCOUGH,  WILLIAM.  Of  West  Chester  County,  New  York, 
and  a  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

ASH,  RICHARD.  Of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina.  After  the  sur 
render  of  Charleston,  he  accepted  of  a  commission  under  the 
crown  ;  his  estate  was  confiscated. 

ASHLEY,  JONATHAN.  Minister  of  Westfield,  and  subsequently 
of  Deerfield,  Massachusetts.  Died  in  1780.  He  was  a  warm 
Loyalist,  and  difficulties  occurred  between  him  and  his  people 
in  consequence.  An  Ecclesiastical  Council,  convened  in  May, 
1780,  by  mutual  consent,  to  arrange  the  difference,  dispersed 
after  a  session  of  eleven  days  without  arriving  at  any  result  ; 
the  death  of  Ashley,  about  three  months  after,  closed  the  con 
troversy.  He  expressed  his  particular  sentiments  freely  and 
boldly.  The  following  anecdote  is  related  as  an  instance 
of  his  zeal :  "  When  the  provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts 
issued  the  proclamation  for  the  Annual  Day  of  Thanksgiving, 
they  substituted  the  ejaculation,  '  God  save  the  people,'  instead 
of  the  former  one,  *  God  save  the  king.'  He  read  the  procla 
mation  from  the  pulpit,  but  when  he  had  come  to  the  close, 
he  raised  himself  above  his  ordinary  height,  and,  with  great 
vehemence,  subjoined,  'And  God  save  the  king,'  I  say,  '  or 
we  are  an  undone  people.' '  Mr.  Ashley  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1730.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  mind,  and  was  an 
earnest  and  pungent  preacher.  At  his  decease,  in  1780,  he 
was  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  Several  of  his  sermons  were 
published. 

ASHLEY,  JOSEPH,  Junior.  Of  Sunderland,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax 
in  1776. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  137 

ASKEW,  LEONARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

ATKINS,  CHARLES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  In  1774 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Correspon 
dence  of  that  city.  In  1780  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown. 
He  received  a  military  commission,  and  in  1782  was  an  officer 
in  the  Volunteers.  He  was  banished,  and  his  property  was 
confiscated.  He  went  to  England.  In  1794,  in  a  memorial 
dated  at  London,  he  stated  to  the  British  Government,  that 
large  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the  time  of  his  banish 
ment  remained  unpaid,  and  he  desired  relief. 

ATKINS,  DAVID.  Laborer  of  Sandwich.  Joined  the  royal 
forces  in  Rhode  Island  in  1777,  and  was  embraced  in  the 
banishment  act  the  next  year. 

ATKINS,  GIBBS.  Cabinet-maker  of  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  in  1778  was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

ATKINSON,  JOHN.  Merchant  of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775,  and 
was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778. 

ATKINSON,  THEODORE.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1718,  and  in  after  life 
rose  to  much  distinction.  He  held,  at  various  times,  the  offices 
of  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Colonel  of  the  militia, 
Collector  of  the  customs,  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  and  Judge 
of  the  Superior  Court ;  and  had  a  seat  in  the  Council.  In  1775 
a  committee  of  the  Provincial  Congress  requested  him  to  de 
liver  up  all  the  records  and  papers  in  the  secretary's  office,  which 
he  refused,  as  "against  his  oath  and  honor."  On  a  second  visit 
the  committee,  without  heeding  his  objections,  took  possession 
of  the  documents  of  his  office,  except  the  volumes  which  con 
tained  the  charter  grants  of  lands,  which  were  then  in  the 
hands  of  Governor  Wentworth.  The  missing  books,  Congress, 
by  resolution  of  July  7,  1775,  voted  that  Mr.  Atkinson  should 
be  held  accountable  for  to  the  people.  In  1779  Mr.  Atkinson 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two.  He  bequeathed 
12* 


138  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

£200  sterling  to  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Portsmouth,  the 
interest  of  which  he  directed  to  be  expended  in  bread  and  dis 
tributed  on  Sundays,  to  the  poor  of  the  parish. 

ATKINSON,  HON.  THEODORE,  Junior.  Of  New  Hampshire, 
and  son  of  the  preceding.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  Univer 
sity  in  1767.  Entering  upon  political  life,  he  became  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Council  and  Secretary  of  the  Colony.  He  died  at 
Portsmouth,  on  Saturday,  October  28,  1769,  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-three,  and  his  remains  were  deposited  in  the  family 
tomb,  Queen's  Chapel,  with  great  pomp  and  circumstance. 
On  Saturday,  November  11 — just  two  weeks  after — his  widow, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Frances  Deering  Wentworth,  was 
married  in  the  same  chapel  by  the  Reverend  Arthur  Browne, 
to  Governor  John,  afterwards  Sir  John  Wentworth.  She  was 
a  Boston  lady,  very  accomplished  and  gay;  and,  as  Lady 
Wentworth,  had  a  diversified  career.  She  was  a  cousin  of 
both  husbands,  and  her  earliest  attachment  was  for  Went 
worth  ;  but  while  he  was  absent  in  England  she  married 
Atkinson.  There  was  much  gossip  at  Portsmouth  about  the 
three  cousins  at  the  revolutionary  era,  founded  on  the  facts 
here  stated.  And  within  a  few  years,  a  story  relating  to  the 
parties  appeared  in  one  of  the  magazines,  which,  extracted  by 
the  newspaper  press,  went  the  rounds.  The  leading  incidents 
of  the  tale  were  both  ridiculous  and  untrue. 

ATKINSON,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  was  an  officer  of  infantry  in 
the  Queen's  Rangers. 

AT  WOOD,  ISAAC.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment. 

AT  WOOD, .     Practitioner  of  physic  and  comb  maker  of 

Christiana,  Delaware.  He  was  ordered  to  surrender  himself 
within  a  specified  time  in  1778,  or  suffer  the  loss  of  his  estate. 

AUCHMUTY,  ROBERT.  Brother  of  Samuel.  He  was  a  law 
yer  of  Boston,  and  held  the  office  of  Judge  of  Admiralty,  a 
place  which  had  been  filled  by  his  father.  He  possessed  fine 
powers  as  an  advocate,  and  was  associated  with  John  Adams 
in  the  defence  of  Captain  Preston,  on  his  trial  for  the  Boston 
Massacre  in  1770.  His  letters  to  persons  in  England  were 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  139 

sent  to  America,  with  those  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  by  Frank 
lin  in  1773,  and  created  much  commotion.  He  went  to 
England  in  1776,  and  at  one  period  was  in  very  distressed 
circumstances.  He  never  returned  to  the  United  States. 

AUCHMUTY,  SAMUEL,  D.  D.  His  father  was  Robert  Auch- 
muty,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  a  judge  of  admiralty  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Samuel  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1742. 
He  was  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  and  died 
March  3d,  1777.  His  doctorate  of  divinity  was  derived  from 
Oxford,  England.  Trumbull  calls  him  a  "high-church  clergy 
man  "  and  makes  him  the  subject  of  remark  in  McFingal.  In 
April,  1775,  Dr.  Auchmuty  wrote  from  New  York  to  Captain 
Montresor,  chief  engineer  of  General  Gage's  army  at  Boston, 
that  "  we  have  lately  been  plagued  with  a  rascally  Whig  mob 
here,  but  they  have  effected  nothing,  only  Sears,  the  King, 
was  rescued  at  the  jail  door"  *  *  *  "Our  magistrates 
have  not  the  spirit  of  a  louse,"  &c. 

AUCHMUTY,  LIEUTENANT  GENERAL  SIR  SAMUEL.  He  was  the 
youngest  son  of  the  Reverend  Doctor  Samuel  Auchmuty,  and 
was  born  in  1758.  He  was  educated  at  Columbia  College, 
New  York.  In  1776  he  joined  Sir  William  Howe  as  an  ensign 
in  the  forty-fifth  regiment.  He  died  in  1822,  aged  sixty-four 
years,  and  lieutenant  general  of  the  British  army. 

AUGUSTINE,  FREDERICK.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

AUSTIN,  NICHOLAS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  In  1774  he  was 
charged  by  the  Whig  Committee  with  procuring  artificers,  &c. 
to  go  from  New  Hampshire  to  Boston  to  erect  barracks  for  the 
royal  troops,  and  was  obliged  to  get  upon  his  knees  and  con 
fess  his  fault. 

AVERY,  SAMUEL.  Died  at  Horton,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1836, 
aged  ninety-four  years. 

AYLWIN,  THOMAS.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

AYMAR,  FRANCIS.  Descended  from  a  family  that  fled  to  the 
United  States  during  the  religious  persecutions  in  France. 
Was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1759,  and  died  at  St. 


140  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  October,  1843,  aged  eighty-four 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of,  and  settled  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  autumn  of  IT  83,  and  continued  his 
residence  there  until  1807,  when  he  returned  to  the  United 
States,  and  lived  alternately  at  Eastport,  Maine ;  New  York ; 
and  St.  Andrew,  up  to  the  time  of  his  decease.  He  was  the 
father  of  fifteen  children,  of  whom  the  following  survived  him : 
Daniel,  William,  John,  Francis,  Nancy,  Mary,  Betsey,  Eleanor, 
Sarah,  and  Phebe.  John  Ay  mar,  the  father  of  Benjamin 
Aymar,  a  distinguished  merchant  of  New  York,  was  his 
brother. 

AXTELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  was  considered  to  be  in  office 
in  1782.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated. 

BABBIT,  DANIEL.  He  died  at  Gagetown,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1830,  at  the  age  of  eighty- seven. 

BABCOCK,  LUKE.  Episcopal  minister  at  Philipsburgh,  New 
York.  In  1775  he  was  one  of  the  Protesters  at  White  Plains 
against  the  Whigs.  The  Protest  was  signed  by  three  hundred 
and  twelve  persons ;  the  names  of  Frederick  Phillips,  Isaac 
Wilkins,  and  Samuel  Seabury,  precede  that  of  Mr.  Babcock. 
The  form  of  this  document  is  given  in  the  notice  of  Mr. 
Seabury. 

BACHE,  THEOPHILACT.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  determined 
Loyalist.  His  brother  Richard  married  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Doctor  Franklin,  and  was  a  Whig.  The  political  sympathies 
of  Theophilact  were,  possibly,  the  same  as  Richard's  at  the 
outset ;  since  he  was  associated  with  Jay  and  Lewis  on  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence.  At  one  period  of  the  war  his 
place  of  residence  was  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island.  Extremely 
obnoxious  to  some  of  the  Whigs,  in  the  course  of  events,  a 
daring  attempt  to  carry  him  off  was  made  in  1778,  by  a  Cap 
tain  Marriner,  an  eccentric,  witty,  and  ingenious  partisan, 
which  resulted  successfully.  Marriner's  plan  embraced  Sher- 
brook.  Axtell,  and  Mathews,  three  other  Loyalists  of  rank 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  141 

and  consequence;  but  Bache  and  Sherbrook  were  the  two 
whom  he  actually  captured,  and  they  were  placed  in  a  boat 
and  conveyed  to  New  Jersey.  In  1782  Mr.  Bache  was  Vice 
President  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  died 
in  that  city  in  1807,  aged  seventy-eight.  His  kindness  to 
Whigs  who  were  carried  to  New  York  and  its  vicinity  as  pris 
oners,  during  the  Revolution,  is  worthy  of  respecful  mention. 

BACKER,  BENJAMIN,  Senior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  was  banished 
and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act  in  1782.  He  died 
soon  after. 

BACKER,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Went 
to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778; 
but  was  afterwards  in  the  United  States.  He  arrived  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783,  in  the  ship 
Union. 

BACKER,  THOMAS.  State  unknown.  Arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  the  crown  granted  him  a  city 
lot. 

BACON,  EDWARD.  Member  of  the  General  Court  from  Barn- 
stable,  Massachusetts.  He  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the 
Whigs  in  the  neighborhood  of  Barnstable,  and  several  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  were  instructed  by  their  towns  to  move 
for  his  expulsion. 

BADDELY,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Royal 
Garrison  Battalion. 

BADGER,  MOSES.  An  Episcopal  clergyman.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1761.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
Judge  Saltonstall  of  Massachusetts,  and  sister  of  Colonel  Rich 
ard  and  Leverett,  the  two  Loyalist  sons  .t  of  that  gentleman. 
Mr.  Badger  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  but  was  at  New  York  at 
or  about  the  time  of  the  death  of  Leverett,  and  wrote  to  the 
family  on  the  subject.  At  one  period  he  was  chaplain  to  De 
Lancey's  second  battalion.  After  the  Revolution,  Mr.  Badger 
was  Rector  of  King's  Chapel,  Providence,  and  died  in  that 
city  in  1792.  It  appears,  that  some  years  prior  to  the  war  he 
was  an  Episcopal  Missionary  in  New  Hampshire,  authorized 
to  labor  throughout  that  Colony. 


142 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


BAILEY,  JACOB.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1755. 
Principally  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Plymouth  pro 
prietors  in  Maine,  an  Episcopal  Church  was  erected  at  Pow- 
nalborough,  now  Wiscasset,  in  that  State,  and  for  several  years 
Mr.  Bailey  was  the  officiating  clergyman,  as  a  missionary  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  Few  around 
him  agreed  with  him  in  political  sentiment,  and  as  the  revolu 
tionary  controversy  darkened,  he  quitted  the  country,  and  went 
to  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  became  the  Rector  of 
St.  Luke's  Church,  in  which  relation  he  continued  until  his 
death  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  During  the  last 
twenty-six  years  of  his  life  he  was  absent  from  his  Church 
only  one  Sunday.  It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  nearly  all 
the  Loyalists  of  Maine  were  Episcopalians,  and  that  few  of 
other  communions  in  that  State  adhered  to  the  king. 

BAILEY,  OLIVER  and  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  were  grantees  of  the  city. 

BAILEY,  SAMUEL  and  JONATHAN.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Con 
necticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading  Association. 

BAILEY,  THOMAS.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  tried  in  1778  on 
a  charge  of  supplying  the  king's  army  with  provisions,  found 
guilty,  and  sentenced  to  confinement  to  hard  labor  for  one 
month. 

BAILEY,  WILLIAM.  State  unknown.  In  1782  was  captain- 
lieutenant  of  the  Loyal  American  Regiment ;  he  settled  after 
the  war  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died 
on  the  river  St.  John,  near  Fredericton,  in  1532,  at  the  ad 
vanced  age  of  ninety-seven. 

BAILEY,  ZACHARIAH.  Died  at  Fredericton,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1823,  aged  seventy-two. 

BAIRD,  WILLIAM.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  the  grantee  of  a  lot  in  that  city. 

BAIZLEY,  JOHN.  Of  West  Chester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

BALDWEEN,  JOHN.  He  served  the  king  throughout  the  Revo 
lution,  and  at  its  close  sought  refuge  in  Charlotte  County,  New 
Brunswick.  He  was  distinguished  for  bravery  and  for  forti- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  143 

tude  in  surmounting  obstacles.  He  died  at  St.  George,  New 
Brunswick,  August,  1840,  aged  ninety-one  years. 

BALENTINE,  ALEXANDER.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace.  He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

BALL,  ELIAS.  Two  of  this  name  in  South  Carolina.  One 
lived  at  Wambaw,  the  other  at  Curmantee  ;  both  held  commis 
sions  under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston ;  and  both 
lost  their  estates  under  the  confiscation  act. 

BALL, .  Captain  of  a  militia  company  in  the  town 

of  Berne,  New  York.  His  command  consisted  of  eighty-five 
men ;  of  whom  sixty- three  joined  him  in  going  over  to  the 
king  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities.  His  ensign,  Peter 
Deitz,  and  the  remainder  of  his  men,  were  Whigs.  Deitz  was 
commissioned  captain,  and  his  brother,  William  Deitz,  lieuten 
ant.  Peter  was  killed  in  1777,  and  William  succeeded  him  in 
command,  and  by  his  activity  incurred  the  hate  of  the  Tories, 
when  with  his  family  they  made  him  their  prisoner,  and  tied 
him  to  his  gate-post  to  witness  the  death  of  his  father  arid 
mother,  his  wife  and  children,  who  were  successively  brought 
out  and  murdered  before  his  eyes.  The  unhappy  Deitz  him 
self  was  carried  to  Niagara,  where  he  ultimately  became  a 
victim  of  Tory  cruelty. 

BALLINGALL,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  in  com 
mission  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston  in 
1780  ;  his  estate  was  confiscated. 

BALMAINE,  WILLIAM.  He  settled  at  Grand  Lake,  New  Bruns 
wick.  While  at  St.  John,  in  1809,  he  fell  from  a  window  and 
was  killed.  His  age  was  seventy-two. 

BANGS,  SETH.  Mariner  of  Hardwick,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BANISTER,  THOMAS.  A  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia, 
in  July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

BANK,  THOMAS.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  in  London  in 
July,  1779. 

BANKS,  SETH.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of  the 
Association. 

BANYER,  GOLDSBROW.  In  1782  he  was  Registrar  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery  of  New  York. 


144 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


BARBARIE,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  second 
battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  received  half-pay.  He  was  a  colonel  of  the  militia,  and  a 
magistrate  of  the  County  of  York.  He  died  at  Sussex  Vale 
in  1818,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  His  son,  Andrew  Barbaric, 
Esq.,  is  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  New  Bruns 
wick. 

BARBARIE,  OLIVER.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment.  He  settled  at  St.  John  in  1783, 
and  was  the  grantee  of  a  city  lot.  He  died  at  Sussex  Vale, 
New  Brunswick. 

BARCAS,  JAMES.  Husbandman  of  Little  Creek,  Delaware. 
He  was  required  in  1778  to  surrender  himself,  or  to  lose  his 
estate,  both  real  and  personal. 

BARCAS,  STEPHEN.  Husbandman  of  Little  Creek,  Delaware. 
By  an  act  of  1778  his  estate  was  to  become  absolutely  forfeit, 
unless  he  should  surrender  himself  for  trial  on  or  before 
August  1st  of  that  year. 

BARCLAY,  ANDREW.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774. 

BARCLAY,  REVEREND  DOCTOR  HENRY.  An  Episcopal  clergy 
man  of  New  York.  He  was  a  native  of  Albany,  and  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  1734,  and  after  taking  orders  in  England, 
was  employed  as  a  missionary  to  the  Mohawk  Indians.  After 
some  years'  labor  in  this  capacity,  he  was  appointed  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  His  death  dissolved 
the  connexion  in  1765.  His  daughter  Nancy  married  Colonel 
Beverley  Robinson  the  younger,  at  Flushing,  New  York, 
January  26th,  1778. 

BARCLAY,  THOMAS.  Was  the  son  of  Henry  Barclay,  D.  D., 
Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  and  was  born  in  that 
city,  October  12th,  1753.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Columbia 
College,  and  a  student  of  law  of  John  Jay.  At  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Revolution  he  entered  the  British  Army  under  Sir 
William  Howe,  as  a  captain  in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment, 
and  was  promoted  to  a  major  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1777. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  145 

He  continued  in  active  service  until  the  peace.  His  estate  in 
New  York  was  confiscated,  and  at  the  close  of  the  contest 
he  fled  with  his  family  to  Nova  Scotia.  Of  the  House  of  As 
sembly  of  that  Province  he  was  for  some  time  speaker ;  and  of 
the  militia,  adjutant- general.  From  1796  till  1828  he  was 
employed  in  civil  stations  under  the  British  crown  of  great 
trust  and  honor.  He  was  successively  a  commissioner  under 
Jay's  Treaty,  the  consul-general  for  the  Northern  and  Eastern 
States,  and  commissary  for  the  care  and  exchange  of  prisoners. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  1812,  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  he  was  appointed  commissioner  un 
der  the  fourth  and  fifth  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  which 
post  he  continued  to  hold  until  within  two  years  of  his  decease. 
In  private  life  he  was  estimable.  He  was  a  sincere  and  devout 
Christian  of  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  England.  A 
prominent  trait  in  his  character  was  kindness  and  charity  to 
the  poor.  His  official  conduct  was  the  subject  of  frequent  and 
marked  approbation  of  the  sovereigns  whom  he  served,  and  at 
the  close  of  his  services  he  was  rewarded  with  a  pension  of 
£1200  per  annum.  His  habits  of  industry  and  application 
were  extraordinary ;  and  he  was  never  in  bed  at  sunrise  for 
forty  years.  He  died  at  New  York  in  April,  1830,  aged 
seventy-seven  years.  His  son,  Colonel  Delancy  Barclay,  an 
aid-de-camp  to  George  the  Fourth,  died  in  1826;  he  had 
repeatedly  distinguished  himself,  particularly  at  Waterloo. 

BARDSLEY,  ABEL.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  He 
arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  one 
child,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

BARKER,  ABIJAH.  Whose  place  of  residence  is  unknown, 
arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  received  the 
grant  of  a  city  lot. 

BARKER,  WILLIAM  and  THOMAS.  Of  Westchester  County; 
New  York.  Were  Protesters  at  White  Plains  in  1775,  and  the 
latter,  in  1782,  was  an  ensign  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment. 

BARLOW,  NATHANIEL.     Of  Reading,    Connecticut.      Was   a 
member  of  the  Association. 
13 


146  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

• 

BARLOW,  THOMAS.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BARNARD,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Hali 
fax  with  the  British  army. 

EARNED,  HENRY.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  went  to  England, 
and  was  in  London  in  1779. 

BARNES,  HENRY.  Merchant  of  Marlborough,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  Henry  Barnes  Esq., 
a  native  of  the  United  States,  died  in  London  in  1808,  aged 
eighty-four ;  probably  the  same. 

BARNHAM,  COMFORT  and  ELIJAH.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Con 
necticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading  Association. 

BARNHAM,  NATHAN.  Was  an  ensign  in  De  Lancey's  third 
battalion. 

BARNUM,  NATHANIEL.  He  was  an  ensign  in  De  Lancey's 
third  battalion. 

BARRAGIN,  LUKE.  Of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  New  York.  A 
signer  of  the  Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs, 
January,  1775. 

BARRELL,  COLBURN.  Of  Boston.  In  1774  was  a  Protester 
against  the  Whigs,  and  one  of  the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson 
the  same  year.  He  was  at  New  York  in  1783,  and  one  of  the 
fifty-five  petitioners  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah 
Willard.  He  was  a  Sandemanian. 

BARRELL,  WALTER.  Was  inspector-general  of  the  customs; 
and  in  his  religious  sentiments  a  follower  of  Robert  Sande- 
man  ;  he  embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army  in  1776, 
for  Halifax,  and  arrived  in  England  in  the  summer  of  the 
same  year.  In  1779  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyalist  Associ 
ation  formed  in  London ;  his  second  daughter,  Polly,  died  in 
London  in  1810. 

BARRETT,  JOSEPH.  He  died  at  Halifax  in  1809,  aged  sixty- 
one. 

BARRICK,  JAMES.  Merchant  of  Boston.  Went  to  Halifax  in 
1776,  and  in  August  of  that  year  arrived  in  England ;  in  1778 
he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  In  1779  he  was  in  London 
and  addressed  the  king. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  147 

BARRICK,  JAMES,  Junior.     Was  in  London  in  July,  1779. 

BARROW,  SAMUEL.  Of  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania.  In 
1778  it  was  ordered  in  Council  that,  failing  to  surrender  him 
self  for  trial  for  treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

BARRY,  ROBERT.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  he  embark 
ed  at  New  York  for  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia.  He  became  an 
eminent  merchant,  established  branch-houses  in  various  parts 
of  the  province,  and  his  name  is  connected  with  the  largest  of 
the  early  commercial  enterprises  of  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  dis 
tinguished  for  qualities  which  adorn  the  Christian  character, 
and  throughout  life  was  highly  esteemed.  His  death  occurred 
at  Liverpool,  Nova  Scotia,  September,  1843,  in  the  eighty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age. 

BARRY,  W.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Foresters 
under  Conolly,  and  died  on  Long  Island,  New  York,  in  1781. 

BARSON,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BARTELS,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston.  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BARTLETT,  RICHARD.  Of  New  York.  Was  included  in  the 
disfranchising  law  of  that  State  of  1784,  but  in  1786  was 
restored  to  his  civil  rights,  on  his  taking  the  oath  of  abjuration 
and  allegiance. 

BARTON,  COLONEL  -  — .  State  unknown.  Commanded  a 
body  of  Tories,  and  was  captured  on  Staten  Island  in  1777, 
with  about  forty  of  his  men,  and  carried  to  New  Jersey. 

BARTON,  DAVID.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 

BARTON,  JAMES  and  HENRY.  In  1782  were  ensigns  in  the 
first  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

BARTON,  THOMAS.  An  Episcopal  clergyman.  He  was  a 
native  of  Ireland,  and  educated  at  the  University  of  Dublin. 
In  1753  he  married  a  sister  of  Mr.  Rittenhouse,  and  was 
ordained  the  next  year  in  England.  To  Mr.  Rittenhouse  his 
talents  and  learning  were  of  great  service.  From  1755  to 
1759  he  was  a  missionary.  In  the  French  war  he  became 
acquainted  with  Washington,  while  a  chaplain  to  the  troops. 


143 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


Subsequently,  he  was  rector  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  for 
many  years.  An  adherent  of  the  crown,  he  refused  to  take  a 
required  oath;  and  in  1778  retired  to  New  York,  where  he 
died  in  1780,  aged  fifty  years.  The  memoirs  of  Rittenhouse 
were  written  by  his  son  William  Barton.  Another  son,  Ben 
jamin  Smith  Barton,  doctor  of  medicine,  was  a  distinguished 
professor  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  succeeded 
the  celebrated  Rush.  Professor  Barton  was  the  first  Ameri 
can  who  published  an  elementary  work  on  botany. 

BARTRAM,  JOHN.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A  mem- 
of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

BARTRAM,  PAUL.  Of  Reading.  A  member  of  the  Associa 
tion. 

BATCHELDER,  BREED.  Of  New  Hampshire.  His  estate  was 
confiscated,  and  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

BATES,  WALTER.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  In  the  spring 
of  1783  he  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship 
Union.  He  settled  in  King's  County,  and  for  many  years  was 
its  sheriff.  He  died  at  Kingston  in  that  county  in  1842,  aged 
eighty-two. 

BATT,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans. 

BATWELL,  DANIEL.  In  1782  he  was  chaplain  of  the  third 
battalion  of  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

BAUM .  He  was  tried  by  a  court-martial,  and  executed 

in  Maine  in  1780,  by  General  Wads  worth,  who  commanded 
the  eastern  department  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  St. 
Croix.  This  act  of  severity  gave  the  General  himself  great 
pain,  and  was  condemned  by  many  Whigs,  but  it  appears  to 
have  been  necessary,  and  to  have  checked  the  treacherous 
intercourse  of  the  eastern  Tories  with  their  British  friends 
who  held  Castine. 

BAUMAN,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon  County,  New  York.  In  1775  a 
signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

BAXTER,  SIMON.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act.  He 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  party  of  Whigs  during  the  war,  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  149 

was  condemned  to  die.  When  brought  out  for  execution,  he 
broke  and  fled  with  the  rope  about  his  neck,  and  succeeded  in 
reaching  Burgoyne's  army.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick  at 
the  peace,  and  died  at  Norton,  King's  County,  in  1804,  aged 
seventy-four.  His  widow  Prudence  died  the  same  year,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-three. 

BAXTER,  STEPHEN.  Of  Jamaica.  Embarked  for  Nova  Scotia 
in  June,  1783. 

BAXTER,  WILLIAM.     Was  proscribed  and  banished. 

BAYARD,  JOHN.  Of  New  York ;  as  were  also  the  five  fol 
lowing.  In  1782  was  lieutenant  colonel  commandant  of  the 
King's  Orange  Rangers. 

BAYARD,  ROBERT.  Was  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  Court,  and 
considered  to  be  in  office  in  1782.  His  estate  was  confis 
cated. 

BAYARD,  SAMUEL.  In  1774  was  engaged  in  a  controversy 
with  other  proprietors  of  lands  in  New  York,  and  in  behalf  of 
himself  and  associates,  submitted  a  memorial  to  the  British 
government,  praying  to  be  put  in  quiet  possession  of  a  part  of 
the  tract  called  the  Westenhook  Patent.  After  General  Lee 
took  command  in  the  city  in  1776,  Mr.  Bayard  was  made 
prisoner,  and  placed  under  guard  at  the  house  of  Nicholas 
Bayard.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  crown,  and  in  1782 
was  major  of  the  King's  Orange  Rangers. 

BAYARD,  SAMUEL,  Junior.  Was  deputy  secretary  of  the 
Colony  previous  to  the  Revolution,  and  was  considered  to  be 
in  office  in  1782. 

BAYARD,  SAMUEL  VETCH.  Served  under  the  crown,  and  was 
a  military  officer.  He  died  in  Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1832, 
aged  seventy-five. 

BAYARD,  WILLIAM.  Was  associated  with  Jay,  Lewis,  and 
others,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  he  appears  to  have  been  of  Whig  sympathies 
at  the  beginning  of  the  controversy.  In  1773  Mr.  Quincy, 
of  Massachusetts,  on  his  return  from  the  South,  passed  through 
New  York,  and  recorded  in  his  journal,  under  the  date  of  May 
12th,  "Spent  the  morning  in  writing  and  roving,  and  dined 
13* 


150  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

with  Colonel  William  Bayard  at  his  seat  on  the  North  River." 
His  property  was  confiscated. 

BAYEUX,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  in  the  Super 
intendent  Department  at  New  York. 

BAYLEY,  PHILIP.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  In  1775 
he  signed  and  published  a  Submission,  or  Recantation,  in 
which  he  asked  forgiveness  for  the  past,  and  promised  that 
his  future  conduct  should  convince  the  public,  that  he  would 
risk  his  life  and  interest  in  defence  of  the  liberties  of  the 
country.  In  his  case,  as  in  several  others,  the  written  recan 
tation  was  probably  extorted  from  an  unwilling  mind  to  avert 
some  impending  blow.  Many  recanters  went  into  exile. 
Bayley,  in  1778,  was  proscribed  and  banished.  The  cap 
tain  lieutenant  of  the  Royal  Fensible  Americans  in  1782  was 
Philip  Bailey,  and,  possibly,  the  subject  of  this  notice. 

BAYLEY,  RICHARD.  An  eminent  physician  of  New  York. 
He  was  bom  in  Connecticut  in  1745,  and  in  1769  and  1770 
attended  lectures  and  hospitals  in  London.  In  1772  he  com 
menced  practice  in  New  York,  and  his  attention  was  early 
attracted  to  the  croup,  which  professional  men  had  treated 
as  putrid  sore  throat.  His  experiments  resulted  in  the  adop 
tion  of  the  present  active  treatment  of  the  croup,  and  in  an 
entire  change  of  remedies  for  that  formidable  disease.  In 
1776  he  was  in  the  British  army  under  Howe,  as  a  surgeon, 
but  incapable  of  enduring  separation  from  his  wife,  he  resign 
ed  just  before  her  decease  in  1777.  For  the  remainder  of  his 
life  he  was  engaged  in  the  duties  of  a  professional  kind.  He 
occupied  the  chairs  of  anatomy  and  surgery  in  Columbia 
College,  and  published  letters  and  essays  on  medical  subjects. 
He  died  in  1801,  aged  fifty-six.  He  is  represented  as  a  man 
of  high  temper,  strong  in  his  attachments,  and  invincible  in 
his  dislikes,  and  of  honorable,  chivalrous  character. 

BAYNTON,  BENJAMIN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Loyalists. 

BAZZEY,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  went  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  in  London,  and  addressed  the  king. 

BEACH,  EZEKIEL.    Of  Mendham,  New  Jersey.    In  July,  1775, 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  151 

the  Committee  of  Observation  of  that  township  published  him 
for  his  unfriendly  conversation  and  conduct  towards  the  Con 
tinental  Association,  and  recommended  that  all  persons  forbear 
dealing  and  connexion  with  him. 

BEACH,  REVEREND  JOHN.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1721,  and  for  several  years  was  a  Congregational  minister  in 
Connecticut;  but  finally  became  an  Episcopalian.  In  1732  he 
went  to  England  for  ordination,  and  on  his  return,  was  em 
ployed  as  an  Episcopalian  Missionary  in  Reading  and  New- 
town,  Connecticut.  After  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  he 
continued  to  pray  for  the  king,  and  to  give  other  evidence  of 
his  loyalty.  His  course  gave  great  displeasure  to  the  Whigs, 
and  he  suffered  at  their  hands.  He  died  in  March,  1782. 
During  his  life,  he  was  engaged  in  one  or  more  religious  con 
troversies.  Several  of  his  compositions  of  this  description, 
and  a  number  of  sermons,  were  published.  The  following 
extracts  from  two  of  his  letters  to  the  Society  for  the  Propa 
gation  of  the  Gospel,  whose  missionary  he  was,  contain 
interesting  information.  The  last,  as  will  be  seen,  was  dated 
only  a  few  months  before  his  death. 

"  Newtown,  May  5,  1772. 

"  As  it  is  now  forty  years  since  I  have  had  the  advantage 
of  being  the  venerable  Society's  missionary  in  this  place,  I 
suppose  it  will  not  be  improper  to  give  a  brief  account  how  I 
have  spent  my  time,  and  improved  their  charity.  Every  Sun 
day  I  have  performed  divine  service,  and  preached  twice,  at 
Newtown  and  Reading  alternately.  And  in  these  forty  years 
I  have  lost  only  two  Sundays  through  sickness ;  although  in 
all  that  time  I  have  been  afflicted  with  a  constant  colic, 
which  has  not  allowed  me  one  day's  ease  or  freedom  from 
pain.  The  distance  between  the  churches  at  Newtown  and 
Reading  is  between  eight  and  nine  miles,  and  no  very  good 
road,  yet  have  I  never  failed  one  time  to  attend  each  place 
according  to  custom,  through  the  badness  of  the  weather,  but 
have  rode  it  in  the  severest  rains  and  snow  storms,  even  when 
there  has  been  no  track,  and  my  horse  near  mining  down  in 


152  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

the  snow  banks,  which  has  had  this  good  effect  on  my  parish 
ioners,  that  they  are  ashamed  to  stay  from  church  on  account 
of  bad  weather,  so  that  they  are  remarkably  forward  to  attend 
the  public  worship.  As  to  my  labors  without  my  parish,  I 
have  formerly  performed  divine  service  in  many  towns  where 
the  common-prayer  had  never  been  heard,  nor  the  Scriptures 
read  in  public  ;  and  where  now  are  flourishing  congregations 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  in  some  places  where  there 
never  had  been  any  public  worship  at  all,  or  any  sermon 
preached  by  any  preacher  of  any  denomination. 

"  In  my  travelling  to  preach  the  Gospel,  once  was  my  life 
remarkably  preserved  in  passing  a  deep  and  rapid  river.  The 
retrospect  on  my  fatigues,  as  lying  on  straw,  &c.,  gives  me 
pleasure,  while  I  flatter  myself  that  my  labor  has  not  been 
quite  in  vain,  for  the  Church  of  England  people  are  increased 
much  more  than  twenty  to  one ;  and  what  is  infinitely  more 
pleasing,  many  of  them  are  remarkable  for  piety  and  virtue ; 
and  the  independents  here  are  more  knowing  in  matters  of 
religion  than  they  who  live  at  a  great  distance  from  our 
church.  We  live  in  harmony  and  peace  with  each  other,  and 
the  rising  generation  of  the  independents  seem  to  be  entirely 
free  from  every  pique  and  prejudice  against  the  church, 
&c.  &c. 

"JOHN  BEACH." 

*  "  Newtown,  October  31,  1781. 

"  It  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  done  my  duty  in  writing  to 
the  venerable  Society,  not  owing  to  my  carelessness,  but  to  the 
impossibility  of  conveyance  from  here,  and  now  do  it  spar 
ingly.  A  narrative  of  my  troubles  I  dare  not  now  give.  My 
two  congregations  are  growing ;  that  of  Reading  being  com 
monly  about  three  hundred,  and  at  Newtown  about  six  hun 
dred.  I  baptize  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  children  in  one 
year,  and  lately  two  adults.  Newtown  and  the  Church  of 
England  part  of  Reading  are  (I  believe)  the  only  parts  of 
New  England  that  have  refused  to  comply  with  the  doings  of 
the  Congress,  and  for  that  reason  have  been  the  butt  of  general 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  153 

hatred ;  but  God  has  delivered  us  from  entire  destruction. 
I  am  now  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  my  age,  yet  do  con 
stantly  alternately  perform  and  preach  at  Newtown  and  Read 
ing.  I  have  been  sixty  years  a  public  preacher,  and,  after 
conviction,  in  the  Church  of  England  fifty  years ;  but  had  I 
been  sensible  of  my  insufficiency,  I  should  not  have  under 
taken  it.  But  now  I  rejoice  in  that  I  think  I  have  done  more 
good  towards  men's  eternal  happiness  than  I  should  have 
done  in  any  other  calling.  I  do  most  heartily  thank  the  ven 
erable  Society  for  their  liberal  support,  and  beg  that  they  will 
accept  of  this,  which  is,  I  believe,  my  last  bill,  £  325,  which, 
according  to  former  custom,  is  due. 

"At  this  age  I  cannot  well  hope  for  it,  but  I  pray  God  I  may 
have  an  opportunity  to  explain  myself  with  safety ;  but  must 
conclude  now  with  Job's  expression  — '  Have  pity  upon  me, 
have  pity  upon  me,  O  ye  my  friends.'  ' 

BEACH,  LAZARUS.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

BEAMAN,  THOMAS.  Of  Petersham,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BEAN,  THOMAS.  He  went  from  New  York  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  of  the  latter  city  was  a  grantee. 
He  and  Dowling  were  contractors  for  the  building  of  Trinity 
Church,  St.  John.  He  died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1823,  aged  seventy-nine. 

BEARD,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished.  In 
1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

BEARDSLEY,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  chaplain  of  the  Loyal 
American  Regiment.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick  after  the 
war,  and  settled  as  an  Episcopal  clergyman  at  Maugerville, 
where  he  died. 

BEARSLEE,  JESSE.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

BEAVAN,  THOMAS  W.  W.  In  1782  he  was  examiner  in  the 
Court  of  Chancery  of  New  York. 

BECK,  JOSEPH.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  grantee  of  a  city  lot. 


154  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

BECKWITH,  NEHEMIAH.     He  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  but  removed  to  Fredericton,  where  he  died  in  1815. 

BECRAFT, .     A  Tory  leader,  cruel,  and  noted  for  deeds 

of  blood.  He  boasted  to  his  associates,  of  having  assisted  to 
massacre  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Vrooman,  in  Schoharie,  New 
York.  The  family,  he  said,  were  soon  despatched,  except  a 
boy  of  fourteen,  who  ran  from  the  house,  when  he  started  in 
pursuit,  overtook  him,  and  cut  his  throat,  took  his  scalp,  and 
hung  his  body  across  the  fence.  After  the  peace,  he  had  the 
hardihood  to  return  to  Schoharie.  He  was  seized,  stripped 
naked  and  bound  to  a  tree,  and  whipped  nearly  to  death  by 
ten  men,  some  of  whom  had  been  his  prisoners,  and  had 
heard  him  recount  this  exploit.  Thus  beaten,  he  was  dis 
missed  with  a  charge  never  to  show  himself  in  that  country 
again,  an  injunction  which  he  carefully  kept. 

BEDLE.  There  were  a  number  of  Loyalists  of  this  name 
in  New  York.  In  1776  Benajah,  Joseph,  David,  Jacob,  Syl- 
vanus,  Mordecai,  and  Jacomiah,  of  Queen's  County,  acknowl 
edged  allegiance.  Five  of  the  name  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  were  grantees  of  that  city. 
These  were  Paul,  John,  Joseph,  Stephen,  and  William.  Paul 
and  Joseph  were  merchants  at  St.  John,  as  early  as  1784,  or 
the  next  year  after  its  settlement.  John  lived  at  Woodstock, 
where  he  was  a  magistrate  for  forty  years ;  and  after  the 
division  of  York  County  was  a  magistrate,  a  Judge  of  Com 
mon  Pleas,  and  Register  of  Wills  and  Deeds  for  the  County  of 
Carl  ton  ;  he  died  in  1838,  aged  eighty- three.  Mary  Cranston, 
the  widow  of  Paul  Bedle,  and  born  in  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  died  at  St.  John  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

BEEBE,  DOCTOR  .     He  was  tarred  and   feathered,  and 

otherwise  roughly  treated,  by  a  mob  styled  the  Sons  of  Lib 
erty,  at  East  Haddam,  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1774. 

BEEBELL,  ROBERT.  Clerk  of  the  Customs.  He  embarked 
at  Boston  with  the  British  army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

BELL,  ANDREW.  Residence  unknown.  In  1783  was  a  peti 
tioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

BELL,  DANIEL  and  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Were  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  LdO 

BELL,  GEORGE.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778. 

BELL,  JAMES.  Who,  I  suppose,  had  been  lieutenant  of  a 
Loyalist  corps. 

BELL.  JOHN  and  JACOB.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  were  grantees  of  that  city. 

BELL,  ROBERT.  Of  Granville  County,  North  Carolina.  Lost 
his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 

BELL,  RICHARD.     Surgeon  of  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

BELL,  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  a  lieu 
tenant  in  the  King's  Orange  Rangers. 

BELLIN,  ALLARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BELLINGER,  EDWARD;  Senior.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

BELTON,  JONATHAN.  Of  South  Carolina.  After  the  surren 
der  of  Charleston  in  1780,  he  held  a  commission  under  the 
crown.  Estate  confiscated. 

BENEDICT,  ELI.  In  1782  was  an  ensign  in  the  Guides  and 
Pioneers,  commanded  by  Colonel  Beverley  Robinson. 

BENEDICT,  MICHAEL.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut. 
Was  a  member  of  the  Reading  Loyalist  Association. 

BENNET,  or  BENNETT.  Fifteen  persons  of  this  name  of 
Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  Octo 
ber,  1775.  To  wit :  John,  Jacob,  William,  John  junior, 
James,  Cornelius,  Nicholas,  W.,  Jeromus,  W.,  Garset,  Jeromus 
senior,  George,  John  junior,  John.  —  John,  Cornelius,  and 
Isaac,  of  Jamaica,  were  signers  of  a  Declaration  in  1775. 

BENNISON,  GEORGE.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BENTHAM,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

BERGEN.  Of  those  who  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in 
1775,  were  several  of  this  name;  namely,  Derrick  Bergen, 
Teunis  Bergen,  John  Bergen,  Jacob  Bergen,  Jacob  Bergen 
junior,  and  John  Bergen  junior ;  all  of  Jamaica,  Long  Island, 
New  York.  Five  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 


156 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October  1776.  To  wit : 
Jacob,  Johannes,  Teunis,  Luke,  Derrick.  During  the  war, 
some  Whigs  entered  the  house  of  Michael  Bergen,  at  Gowan- 
nus,  New  York,  and  though  a  party  of  the  royal  troops 
were  near,  they  made  prisoner  of  a  Hessian  major,  who 
was  Bergen's  lodger. 

BERNARD,  SIR  THOMAS,  BARONET.  He  was  the  third  son  of 
Sir  Francis  Bernard,  Baronet,  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1767.  He  went  to  Eng 
land,  where  he  married  a  lady  of  fortune.  On  the  death  of 
his  brother,  Sir  John  Bernard  —  who  was  a  Whig  —  he  suc 
ceeded  to  the  title.  His  time  was  much  devoted  to  institutions 
of  benevolence  in  London ;  and  he  wrote  several  essays  with 
a  design  to  mitigate  the  sorrows,  and  improve  the  condition 
of  the  humbler  classes  of  English  society.  The  University 
of  Edinburgh  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 
He  died  in  England  in  1818. 

BERNARD,  SIR  JOHN.  The  brother  of  Sir  Thomas  —  above 
mentioned  —  remained  in  America  ;  and,  as  remarked,  was  a 
Whig.  Soon  after  the  Revolution  he  was  in  abject  poverty, 
and  the  misfortunes  of  himself  and  his  family  seem  to  have 
unsettled  his  mind.  When,  in  1769,  Sir  Francis  was  recalled 
from  the  Government  of  Massachusetts,  he  possessed  a  consid 
erable  landed  estate  in  Maine,  of  which  the  large  island  of 
Mount  Desert,  Moose  Island,  (now  Eastport)  and  some  territory 
on  the  main,  formed  a  part.  John,  at  or  about  the  time  of  his 
father's  departure,  had  an  agency  for  the  settlement  of  these 
and  other  lands ;  and,  probably,  until  the  confiscation  of  his 
father's  property  in  1778,  was  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
His  place  of  residence  during  the  war  appears  to  have  been 
at  Bath,  though  he  was  sometimes  at  Machias.  Not  long 
after  the  peace,  he  lived  at  Pleasant  Point,  a  few  miles  from 
Eastport,  in  a  small  hut  built  by  himself,  and  with  no  com 
panion  but  a  dog.  An  unbroken  wilderness  was  around  him. 
The  only  inhabitants  at  the  head  of  the  tide  waters  of  the 
St.  Croix  were  a  few  workmen,  preparing  to  erect  a  saw 
mill.  Robbinston  and  Perry  were  uninhabited.  Eastport  con- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  157 

tained  a  single  family.  Yet,  at  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
remnant  of  the  tribe  of  the  Passamaquoddy's,  he  attempted 
to  make  a  farm.  He  had  been  bred  in  ease,  had  hardly  done 
a  day's  work  in  his  life ;  and  yet  he  believed  that  he  could 
earn  a  competence  by  labor.  He  told  those  who  saw  him, 
that  "  other  young  men  went  into  the  woods,  and  made  them 
selves  farms,  and  got  a  good  living,  and  he  saw  no  reason 
why  he  could  not."  But  he  cut  down  a  few  trees,  became 
discouraged,  and  departed.  His  abject  condition  in  mind 
and  estate  rendered  him  an  object  of  deep  commiseration ; 
and  his  conduct  during  hostilities  having  entitled  him  to  con 
sideration,  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  restored  to  him 
one  half  of  the  island  of  Mount  Desert.  Of  his  subsequent 
history,  while  he  continued  in  the  United  States,  but  little  is 
known  to  me.  He  came  to  Maine  occasionally,  and  was 
much  about  Boston.  Later  in  life  he  held  offices  under  the 
British  crown  at  Barbadoes  and  St.  Vincent ;  and  was  known 
as  Sir  John  Bernard,  Baronet.  He  died  in  the  West  Indies 
in  1809,  when  his  brother  Thomas  —  the  subject  of  the  pre 
ceding  sketch  —  succeeded  to  the  title. 

BERRIEN,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 

BERRY,  EDWARD.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BERRY,  JOHN.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  the  same  year. 

BERRY,  THOMAS.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

BERTRAM,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Philadelphia..  His  estate  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

BETHELL,  ROBERT.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers. 

BETHUNE,  GEORGE.  Of  Boston.  In  1774  he  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  May,  and  one  of  the  Protesters 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  town  meeting  in  June  of  that 
year.  The  next  year  he  had  retired  to  Jamaica,  New  York, 
14 


158  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

where  he  was  suspected  of  carrying  on  a  correspondence  with 
the  British  forces,  and  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the 
committee  with  his  papers.  Mr.  Bethune  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1740,  and  died  in  1785. 

BETTS,  AZOR.  A  physician ;  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  died 
at  Digby  in  that  Colony  in  1807.  His  widow,  Gloriannah, 
died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1815,  aged  sixty-nine. 

BETTS,  STEPHEN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  Was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Loyalist  Association. 

BETTS,  THOMAS  and  RICHARD.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  themselves  loyal  and  well  affected 
subjects,  October,  1776.  In  April,  1779,  Thomas  was  an 
Addresser  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling,  while  Richard 
signed  a  Declaration  against  the  Whigs  as  early  as  1775. 

BETTS,  WILLIAM.  In  1778  kept  a  tavern  at  Jamaica,  New 
York,  sign  of  General  Amherst.  In  1779  he  advertised 
11  choice  liquors,  dinners  on  the  shortest  notice,  and  good 
stabling."  The  same  year  Loyal  Refugees  were  recruiting 
at  his  house. 

BETTS,  CAPTAIN  R.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In 
1780  was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  Robertson. 

BETTYS,  JOSEPH,..  A  noted  Tory.  "Joe  Bettys"  was  known 
as  a  shrewd,  intelligent,  daring,  and  bad  man.  It  is  said,  that 
pity  and  mercy  were  emotions  which  he  never  felt,  and  that  to 
all  the  gentler  impulses  he  was  thoroughly  insensible.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  he  lived  at  Ballston,  New 
York,  and  was  a  Whig.  Entering  the  Whig  service  he  per 
formed  feats  of  extraordinary  valor  in  Arnold's  battle  with 
Carlton  on  Lake  Champlain,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner 
and  carried  to  Canada.  While  a  captive,  he  was  unfortunately 
seduced  to  attach  himself  to  the  interests  of  the  crown,  and 
to  accept  the  commission  of  ensign.  Admirably  fitted  to  act 
as  a  messenger  and  spy,  he  undertook  to  perform  the  duties 
of  one  or  both  as  occasion  should  require,  but  was  captured 
by  his  former  friends,  tried,  and  condemned  to  the  gallows. 
Washington,  however,  spared  his  life  on  his  promise  of  refor 
mation,  on  the  entreaties  of  his  aged  parents  and  the  solicita- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  159 

tions  of  influential  Whigs.  But  Bettys  returned  directly 
to  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and  his  subsequent  career  was 
marked  by  almost  every  enormity  that  can  disgrace  a  human 
being.  His  very  name  struck  terror,  and  a  record  of  his 
enterprises  and  crimes  would  fill  a  book.  He  burned  the 
dwellings  of  persons  whom  he  hated,  or  took  them  off  by 
murder.  Fatigue,  distance,  or  danger,  were  no  obstacles  in 
the  accomplishment  of  his  designs.  He  knew  that  he  carried 
his  life  in  his  hand.  He  scorned  disguise  or  concealment. 
He  fell  upon  his  victims  at  noon  as  well  as  at  midnight. 
Many  plans  were  laid,  many  efforts  made  to  seize  him.  At 
last,  in  1782,  the  Whigs  were  successful,  and  detected  him 
with  a  despatch  to  the  commander  of  the  British  forces  in 
New  York.  He  was  taken  to  Albany  and  executed  as  a 
spy  and  traitor.  His  death  was  deemed  an  event  of  no 
small  consequence,  both  because  it  put  an  end  to  his  own 
misdeeds,  and  because  his  fate  was  calculated  to  awe  others 
who  were  engaged  in  the  same  perilous  employments. 

BEVERADGE,  DAVID.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

BIBBY,  THOMAS.  He  was  seized  at  Long  Island,  New  York, 
in  1775 ;  sent  to  Massachusetts,  arid  confined  within  the  limits 
of  the  town  of  Lunenburgh. 

BIDDLE,  JOHN.  Of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  Was 
collector  of  excise,  and  a  deputy  quartermaster  of  the  Whig 
army.  He  changed  sides,  and  in  1779  his  estate  was  con 
fiscated.  His  office  of  collector  of  excise  was  worth,  in  1775, 
but  £15. 

BIGBY,  JAMES.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

BIGG,  JOHN.  He  died  in  New  Brunswick  in  1836,  aged 
seventy-eight. 

BIGGS,  PETER.     Of  Pennsylvania.    Was  in  London  in  1779. 

BILES,  SAMUEL.  Sheriff  of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

BILLOPP,  CHRISTOPHER.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  gentleman 
of  character  and  property,  and  a  member  of  the  House  of 


160  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Assembly.  He  commanded  a  corps  of  Loyalists,  or  of  loyal 
militia,  raised  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  city,  and  was 
actively  employed  in  military  duty.  He  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Whigs  and  confined  in  the  jail  at  Burlington,  New 
Jersey.  Mr.  Boudinot,  the  commissary  of  prisoners,  in  the 
warrant  of  commitment,  directed  that  irons  should  be  put  on 
his  hands  and  feet,  that  he  should  be  chained  to  the  floor 
of  a  close  room,  and  that  he  should  be  fed  on  bread  and 
water,  in  retaliation  for  the  cruel  treatment  of  Leshier  arid 
Randal,  two  Whig  officers  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  royal  troops.  In  1782  Colonel  Billopp  was  superintendent 
of  police  of  Staten  Island,  where  he  lived  and  where  he  had 
an  estate.  His  property,  which  was  large,  was  confiscated 
under  the  act  of  New  York.  At  the  old  Billopp  House,  which 
he  erected,  Lord  Howe,  as  a  commissioner  of  the  mother 
country,  met  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  Edward  Rutledge, 
a  Committee  of  Congress,  in  the  hope  of  adjusting  difficulties, 
and  of  inducing  the  Colonies  to  return  to  their  allegiance. 
During  the  war,  Lord  Howe,  General  Kniphausen,  Colonel 
Simcoe,  and  other  officers  of  rank  in  the  royal  service,  were 
frequent  guests  of  Colonel  Billopp,  at  this  house.  In  1783  he 
was  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia. 
See  Abijah  Willard.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick  soon  after, 
and  for  many  years  bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  administra 
tion  of  its  affairs.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  As 
sembly,  and  of  the  Council,  and  on  the  death  of  Governor 
Smythe,  in  1823,  he  claimed  the  Presidency  of  the  Government, 
and  issued  his  proclamation  accordingly:  but  the  Honorable 
Ward  Chipman  was  a  competitor  for  the  station,  and  was 
sworn  into  office.  Colonel  Billopp  died  at  St.  John  in  1827, 
aged  ninety.  His  wife  Jane  died  at  that  city  in  1802,  aged 
forty-eight.  His  daughter  Louisa  married  John  Wallace,  Esq., 
Surveyor  of  the  Customs.  His  daughter  Mary,  the  wife  of  the 
Reverend  Archdeacon  Willis,  of  Nova  Scotia,  died  at  Halifax 
in  1834,  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  His  daughter  Jane,  wife 
of  the  Honorable  William  Black,  of  St.  John,  died  in  1836. 
His  two  sons  settled  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  were 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  161 

merchants.  They  were  partners,  and  in  business  at  the  time 
of  the  yellow  fever ;  the  one  married,  the  other  single.  The 
unmarried  brother  said  to  the  other,  —  "It  is  unnecessary  that 
both  should  stay  here.  You  have  a  family,  and  your  life  is 
of  more  consequence  than  mine;  go  into  the  country  until 
the  sickness  subsides."  The  married  brother  retired  from  the 
city  accordingly,  while  the  other  remained  and  was  a  victim 
of  the  fever.  The  survivor,  whose  name  was  Thomas,  failed 
in  business  some  time  after;  joined  the  expedition  of  the 
celebrated  Miranda,  and  was  appointed  a  captain;  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Spaniards  and  executed. 

BINGAY,  ROBERT.  He  died  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  in 
1830. 

BINGHAM,  CHARLES.  In  1782  he  was  captain  lieutenant  of 
the  Second  American  Regiment. 

BIRD,  HENRY.  An  officer  in  the  royal  service,  and  who, 
I  conclude,  belonged  to  New  York.  His  diary  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Colonel  Gansevoort. 

BIRDSILL,  BENJAMIN.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  settled  in  Queen's  County.  He  died  at 
Gagetown  in  that  county  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one. 
Descendants  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  two  survived 
him.  Rachel,  his  widow,  died  at  Gagetown  in  1843,  aged 
ninety-seven. 

BISHOP,  JOHN.  Died  at  Horton,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1815,  aged 
eighty-six. 

BLACK,  DAVID.  Merchant  of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BLACK,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Embarked  with  the  royal  army 
for  Halifax  in  1776. 

BLACK,  JOSEPH.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  office  under  the 
crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  and  lost  his  estate 
under  the  confiscation  act. 

BLACKBURN.  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BLACKER,  WILLIAM.     In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment. 
14* 


162  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

BLACKWELL,  JOHN,  Junior.  Laborer  of  Sandwich,  Massa 
chusetts.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  had 
joined  the  enemy  at  Rhode  Island  in  the  fall  of  1777. 

BLAIR,  JAMES.  Residence  unknown.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot. 
A  Loyalist  of  the  name  of  James  Blair  died  at  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1833,  aged  seventy-five.  He  was  barrack-master  of 
the  garrison  there,  and  an  old  officer. 

BLAIR,  JOHN.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Embarked  with 
the  royal  army  for  Halifax. 

BLAIR,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  tried  as  a  spy  in 
1778,  and  executed  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  A  large  amount 
of  counterfeit  continential  money  was  found  in  his  possession. 

BLAIR,  ROBERT.  Merchant  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

BLAIR,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston,  and  lost 
his  estate  in  consequence. 

BLAIR,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs. 

BLAIR,  CAPTAIN .     Of  Virginia.    Joined  Lord  Dunmore. 

Was  a  captain  in  the  royal  service ;  was  taken  prisoner  and 
perished,  it  is  supposed,  on  the  passage  to  France. 

BLAKE,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

BLAKENHAM,  HENRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  es 
tate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

BLAKSLEE,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  Haven.  Commanded  a  com 
pany  in  the  second  regiment  of  the  militia,  and  the  House 
of  Assembly  appointed  a  Committee,  in  1775,  to  inquire  into 
charges  against  him  of  disaffection  and  contemptuous  speak 
ing. 

BLAKSLEE,  ASA.  Removed  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  died  in  that  city  in  1843,  aged  eighty-seven. 

BLANE,  THOMAS.  A  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia, 
July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

BLEAU,  URIAH.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  third  battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers  in  1782. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  163 

BLEAU,  WALDRON.  Was  a  captain  in  the  third  battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers  iii  1782. 

BLISS,  DANIEL.  Of  Concord,  Massachusetts.  Was  a  son 
of  Reverend  Samuel  Bliss  of  that  town.  He  was  born  in 
1740,  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1760,  and  died  at 
Lincoln,  near  Fredericton,  in  the  province  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1805,  aged  sixty- six  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
barristers  and  attornies  who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774 ;  and  he  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778 ;  and 
joining  the  British  army,  was  appointed  commissary.  After 
the  Revolution,  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  Council,  and  Chief  Justice  of  the  Inferior 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  His  widow  died  in  1807,  at  the 
age  of  sixty. 

BLISS,  JOHN  MURRAY.  Son  of  Daniel  Bliss.  He  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  whence  he  removed  at  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities.  He  did  not  settle  in  New  Bruns 
wick  until  1786.  Having  practised  law  for  several  years, 
and  rilled  several  offices  connected  with  his  profession,  and 
having  represented  the  County  of  York  in  the  House  of 
Assembly,  he  was,  in  1816,  elevated  to  the  bench  and  to 
a  seat  in  his  Majesty's  Council.  In  1824,  on  the  decease 
of  the  Honorable  Ward  Chipman,  who  was  President  and 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Colony,  Judge  Bliss  succeeded 
to  the  administration  of  the  government,  and  continued  in 
office  until  the  arrival  of  Sir  Howard  Douglas,  a  period  of 
nearly  a  year.  At  his  death,  he  was  senior  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  commanded  universal  confidence  and 
esteem.  His  manners  were  dignified,  and  his  conduct  open, 
frank,  and  independent.  He  died  at  St.  John,  August,  1834, 
aged  sixty-three  years.  His  daughter  Jane  died  at  Halifax 
in  1826,  and  his  daughter  Sophia  Isabella  died  at  St.  John 
the  same  year. 

BLISS,  JONATHAN.  Of  Springfield,  Massachusetts.  Gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1763;  and  died  at  Frederic- 
ton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
His  wife  and  the  wife  of  Fisher  Ames  were  sisters.  He 


164  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

was  a  member  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  in 
1768,  and  one  of  the  seventeen  Rescinders;  and  was  pro 
scribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  In  New  Brunswick,  he 
was  a  personage  of  distinguished  consideration,  and  at 
tained,  finally,  to  the  rank  of  Chief  Justice,  and  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  Council. 

BLISS,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  a  brother  of  the 
Honorable  Daniel  Bliss.  He  died  at  St.  George,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1803. 

BLISS,  SAMUEL.  Shopkeeper  of  Greenfield,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BLOOMER,  JOSHUA.  Episcopal  clergyman  of  Jamaica,  New 
York.  He  graduated  at  King's  College,  New  York,  in 
1761,  and  went  to  England  for  ordination  in  1765.  In 
1769  he  settled  at  Jamaica,  where  he  continued  until  his 
death,  in  1790.  Before  taking  orders,  he  was  an  officer  in 
the  provincial  service,  and  a  merchant  in  New  York.  While 
at  Jamaica,  he  officiated,  occasionally,  at  Newtown  and 
Flushing;  and  Domine  Rubell,  an  itinerant  Dutch  minister, 
whose  loyalty  induced  him  to  pray  heartily  for  the  royal 
family,  occupied  his  pulpit. 

BLOWERS,  SAMPSON  SALTER.  Of  Boston.  Proscribed  and 
banished.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1763. 
The  class  of  that  year  is  celebrated  for  the  numbers  of 
Loyalists  and  Judges  of  Courts.  Mr.  Blowers  entered  upon 
the  study  of  law  with  Hutchinson,  then  Judge  of  Probate,  and 
Lieutenant-governor.  In  1770  he  was  associated  with  Messrs. 
Adams  and  Quincy  in  behalf  of  the  British  soldiers  who 
were  tried  for  their  agency  in  the  Boston  Massacre,  so 
termed,  in  that  year.  In  1774  he  went  to  England,  and 
returning,  in  1778,  found  his  name  in  the  proscription  act. 
He  was  imprisoned,  but  being  soon  released,  went  to  Hal 
ifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  died  in  1842,  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  years.  In  that  Colony  he  was  long  a  distin 
guished  character.  In  1785  he  was  appointed  Attorney- 
general,  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly ;  and  in 
1797  was  created  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  hav- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  165 

ing  had  for  some  years  previous  to  his  judicial  elevation  a 
seat  in  his  Majesty's  Council.  He  retired  from  public  life 
in  1833.  When  ex-president  Adams  was  in  Nova  Scotia, 
in  1840,  he  paid  Judge  Blowers  a  visit.  The  Judge  him 
self,  it  is  believed,  never  set  foot  on  the  land  of  his  na 
tivity,  after  he  was  driven  from  it.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died 
at  Halifax,  July,  1845,  in  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  her  age. 
She,  I  think,  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Kent,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  who,  at  first  a  Whig,  became  a  Loyalist  and  a 
refugee.  It  is  said,  that  of  thirty-six  hundred  departed 
graduates  of  Harvard,  two  only  reached  one  hundred  years. 
These  were  both  Loyalists,  the  subject  of  this  notice  having 
been  one,  and  Doctor  Holyoke,  of  Salem,  the  other. 

BLOXHAM,  -  — .  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  of  the  North 
Carolina  Independent  Company,  under  Branson.  „ 

BLUNDELL,  ARCHIBALD  and  CHARLES.  Were  lieutenants  in 
the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

BODEN,  NICHOLAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BOGART,  ISAAC.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BOGGS,  JAMES.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  entered  the  service 
of  the  crown,  and  was  attached  to  the  medical  staff  of  the 
royal  army.  In  1783  he  went  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  for 
many  years  was  surgeon  of  the  forces  at  Halifax.  He  died 
in  that  city  in  1832,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one. 

BOGGS,  JOHN.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace.  He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  In 
1792  he  was  a  magistrate  of  Queen's  County. 

BOISSEAU,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  held  an  office 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston  in  1780. 
Estate  confiscated. 

BOND,  JOSEPH.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

BONKER,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  York.  In  June,  1783,  he  was 
preparing  to  embark  for  Nova  Scotia. 

BONNETT.  ISAAC.      He  was    born    in  New  Rochelle,  New 


166  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

York.  He  abandoned  his  property  in  New  York  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  removed  to  Annapolis  Royal,  Nova 
Scotia,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died 
in  1838,  aged  eighty-six,  leaving  a  widow  and  five  children. 

BONSALL,  RICHARD.  He  was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  a 
brother  of  Sir  Thomas  Bonsall.  He  commenced  the  study 
of  medicine,  but  abandoned  it.  In  consequence  of  a  dis 
agreement  with  Sir  Thomas,  he  emigrated  to  New  York 
some  years  prior  to  the  Revolution,  where  he  remained  until 
the  close  of  hostilities.  In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  and 
was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  at  St  John  in  1814, 
aged  seventy-two.  His  wife  was  a  lady  of  the  name  of 
Smith,  of  Long  Island,  New  York.  Six  children  survived 
him;  only  one  is  now  (1846)  living. 

BOOKHURT,  JOHN.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  grantee  of  a  city  lot. 

BOOKLESS,  HENRY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BOONE,  SAMUEL.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Was  passenger  in  the 
ship  Union.  * 

BOONE,  THOMAS.  Was  in  London  in  1785,  and  a  peti 
tioner  to  the  government  for  relief. 

BOONE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  six  children,  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  the  spring  of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

BOOTH,  B.  He  appears  to  have  been  for  a  time  secre 
tary  of  the  Loyal  Refugees  of  the  different  Colonies.  In 
September,  1778,  he  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  From  the  proceedings,  it  would  seem  that 
about  two  thousand  Loyalists,  who  then  resided  in  New  York 
and  on  Long  Island,  were  present. 

BOORUM,  AURY.  Of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  New  York. 
A  signer  of  the  Declaration  in  1775.  In  1776  he  signed 
an  acknowledgment  of  allegiance.  Previous  to  the  Revolu 
tion,  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

BORLAND,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  167 

BORLAND,  JOHN  LINDALL.  Of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
Son  of  John  Borland.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1772,  entered  the  British  army,  and  became  lieutenant- 
colonel.  He  died  in  England,  November,  1825. 

BOSSEAU,  JAMES  E.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  of  infan 
try  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

BOSTWICK,  DAVID  and  ISAAC.  Arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  lots  in  that  city  were  granted  them 
by  the  crown. 

BOTSFORD,  AMOS.  Of  Newtown,  Connecticut.  In  1775, 
in  a  document  remarkable  for  its  guarded  form  of  expres 
sion,  though  drawn  up  in  opposition  to  a  paper  which 
disapproved  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
he  made  known  his  determination  to  be  compliant  with 
the  measures  of  that  body.  But,  subsequently,  adhering  to 
the  side  of  the  crown,  he  removed  to  New  Brunswick  after 
the  conclusion  of  hostilities,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
profession  of  the  law.  In  1784  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  was  uniformly  returned  from 
the  County  of  Westmoreland,  at  every  election,  during  his 
life.  He  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly  as  early 
as  1792.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1812,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine ;  and  was  the  senior  barrister  at  law  in  the 
Colony.  His  son,  the  Honorable  William  Botsford,  who 
was  appointed  Judge  of  Vice-admiralty  of  New  Brunswick 
in  1803,  and  for  a  long  period  subsequently  was  a  member 
of  the  Council,  and  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  has 
lately  retired  from  his  judicial  duties. 

BOUCHER,  JONATHAN.  Episcopal  clergyman  of  Virginia. 
He  was  rector,  first  of  Hanover,  and  then  of  St.  Mary. 
Governor  Eden  gave  him  also  the  rectory  of  St.  Anne,  An 
napolis,  and  of  Queen  Anne.  He  was  an  unshaken  and 
uncompromising  Loyalist.  In  1775,  resolving  to  quit  the 
country,  he  preached  a  farewell  sermon,  in  which  he  de 
clared  that  as  long  as  he  lived,  he  would  say  with  Zadok, 
the  priest,  and  Nathan,  the  prophet,  "God  save  the  king." 
Arriving  in  England,  he  was  appointed  vicar  of  Epsom, 


168  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  there  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  in 
1804,  aged  sixty-seven.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
preachers  of  his  time.  While  in  Virginia,  the  son  of  Mrs. 
Washington,  by  her  first  marriage,  was  his  pupil.  During 
the  last  fourteen  years  of  his  life,  Boucher  was  employed 
in  making  a  glossary  of  provincial  and  archreological  words, 
and  in  1831  his  manuscripts  were  purchased  of  his  family 
by  the  proprietors  of  Webster's  Dictionary.  In  1799  were 
published  fifteen  discourses  preached  in  America,  between  the 
years  1763  and  1775,  on  the  causes  and  consequences  of 
the  American  Revolution,  which  were  dedicated  to  his  old 
friend,  Washington. 

BOUCHOMEAU,  CHARLES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BOUMAN,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Gage 
in  1775. 

BOURK,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  March,  1776, 
he  was  charged  with  being  inimical  to  the  liberties  of 
America;  and  on  a  hearing  before  the  Council,  John  Strange, 
a  witness  against  him,  swore,  in  the  course  of  his  testi- 
timony,  that  Bourk  said,  "  General  Gage  deserved  to  be 

d d  because  he  had  not  let  the  guards  out  at  Bunker 

Hill,  and  it  would  have  settled  the  dispute  at  that  time.'' 
This,  and  other  particulars,  Bourk  acknowledged;  when  it 
was  resolved  to  commit  him  to  close  jail  until  further  orders. 

BOURN,  EDWARD,  ELISHA,  LEMUEL,  and  WILLIAM.  Of  Sand 
wich,  Massachusetts.  Were  proscribed  and  banished.  Lem 
uel  joined  the  royal  forces  at  Rhode  Island. 

BOURNE,  SHEARJASHUB.  Of  Scituate,  Massachusetts.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1743.  In  1774  he  was 
among  the  barristers  and  attornies  at  law,  who  were  Ad 
dressers  of  Governor  Hutchinson  on  his  departure.  He  died 
at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  in  1781. 

BOUTINEAU,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  Attorney  at  law.  Was 
appointed  Mandamus  Counsellor  in  1774,  and  was  one  of 
the  ten  who  took  the  oath  of  office.  He  was  included  in 
the  conspiracy  act  of  1779,  and  his  estate  was  confiscated 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  169 

under  its  provisions.  In  1772  his  son-in-law,  John  Robin 
son,  a  commissioner  of  the  customs,  was  found  guilty  of 
a  most  violent  assault  on  James  Otis,  for  which  the  jury 
assessed  two  thousand  pounds  sterling  damages.  Boutineau 
appeared  as  attorney  for  Robinson,  and  in  his  name  signed 
a  submission  asking  the  pardon  of  Otis,  who,  thereupon, 
executed  a  free  release  for  the  two  thousand  pounds.  Otis 
never  recovered  from  the  effect  of  this  assault,  and,  shat 
tered  in  health  and  reason,  soon  retired  from  public  life. 
Boutineau' s  fate  is  unknown,  but  he  was  in  England  in 
1777.  Though  a  banished  Loyalist,  he  was  one  of  the 
fifty-eight  memorialists  of  Boston,  who,  in  1760,  were  the 
first  men  in  America  to  array  themselves  against  the  offi 
cers  of  the  crown. 

BOWDEN,  CHARLES.  Of  New  York.  Officiated  in  1775  as 
one  of  the  chaplains  of  the  Provincial  Congress;  at  a  later 
period  he  became  chaplain  of  De  Lancey's  First  Battalion. 

BOWDEN,  JOHN.  In  1783  was  a  petitioner  for  lands  in 
Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

BOWDEN,  THOMAS.  In  1782  was  major  in  De  Lancey's 
Second  Battalion,  and  at  the  peace  went  to  England. 

BOWEN,  ANSEL  and  FRANCIS.  Residence  unknown.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  received  grants 
of  lots  in  that  city. 

BOWEN,  HENRY.  Of  Tryon  County,  (now  Montgomery 
County),  New  York,  was  a  neighbor  arid  adherent  of  the 
Johnsons,  and  accompanied  Sir  John  to  Canada,  and,  subse 
quently,  appearing  in  arms  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  belonged 
to  a  party  who  desolated  the  country  inhabited  by  his  former 
friends  and  associates.  William  Bowen,  of  the  same  family, 
was  engaged  in  the  same  enterprise.  The  Bowens  of  this 
region  were  from  New  England,  and  emigrated  to  New 
York  about  the  year  1728. 

BOWEN,  JEREMIAH.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

BOWEN,  JOHN.     Residence  unknown.     In  1782  was  a  cap 
tain  in  the  Prince  of  Wales  American  Volunteers. 
15 


170 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


BOWEN,  JOHN.  Of  Princeton,  Massachusetts.  Went  to  Hal 
ifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  two  years  after. 

BOWEN,  NATHAN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

BOWEN,  PETER.  Of  Tripe's  Hill,  New  York.  In  1775 
refused  to  sign  the  Whig  Association. 

BOWER,  PATRICK  and  SAMUEL.  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  in  1780. 

BOWER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BOWERS,  ARCHIBALD.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for 
Halifax  with  the  British  army. 

BOWES,  WILLIAM.  Merchant  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

BOWLES,  WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS.  Of  Maryland.  In  1791  he 
was  among  the  Creeks,  with  whom  he  possessed  great  in 
fluence  ;  and  styled  himself  General  William  Augustus  Bowles. 
On  the  18th  of  May,  1792,  James  Seagrove,  Esquire,  our 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  "a  talk  "  with  the  kings, 
chiefs,  head  men  and  warriors  of  the  Creek  nation,  said  of 
him:  "This  Bowles  is  an  American  of  low,  mean  extraction, 
born  in  Maryland ;  he  was  obliged,  on  account  of  his  villany, 
to  fly  from  home  and  follow  the  British  army,  where  he  was 
despised  and  treated  as  a  bad  man  and  a  coward.  Finding 
he  could  not  live  there,  he  returned  to  America  ;  but  being 
too  lazy  to  work  at  his  trade  for  a  living,  he  renewed  his 
bad  acts,  for  which  he  was  compelled  to  fly  from  his  native 
country,  or  be  hanged."  Bowles  had  assumed  to  act  among 
the  Indians  under  authority  of  the  British  government,  but 
on  inquiry  by  the  President,  the  ministry  promptly  and  ex 
plicitly  denied  that  they  had  afforded  him  countenance,  as 
sistance,  or  protection.  At  the  time  of  Seagrove' s  "talk,"  it 
would  appear,  that  Bowles  had  absented  himself  from  the 
Creek  country ;  but  in  1801  he  was  again  in  mischief  there,  or 
in  its  vicinity,  and  means  were  taken  by  our  government  to 
counteract  his  plans  and  plots.  A  gentleman  connected  with 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  171 

Indian  Affairs,  saw  a  portrait  of  this  creature  suspended  in 
the  house  of  a  Chief,  under  which  was  written,  "  General 
Bowles,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  na 
tions."  He  saw  also  a  number  of  engraved  dinner  cards, 
which  Bowles  had  received  while  in  England,  styling  him, 
"Commander-in-chief  of  the  Creek  nation." 

He  was  undoubtedly  a  bold  and  wicked  man.  At  one 
time  the  Spanish  government  offered  a  reward  of  six  thou 
sand  dollars  for  his  apprehension,  on  account  of  his  pernicious 
influence  over  the  Florida  Indians.  He  was  accordingly 
seized,  and  sent  prisoner  to  Madrid,  and  thence  to  Manilla. 
Obtaining  leave  to  go  to  Europe,  he  repaired  to  the  Creek 
country,  where  he  commenced  his  mischievous  course  anew. 
In  1804  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  a  second 
time.  He  was  then  sent  to  the  Moro  Castle,  Havana,  where 
he  died  in  December  of  1805.  While  among  the  Creeks  he 
married  an  Indian  woman. 

BOWLS,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Mary 
land  Loyalists. 

BOURA,  PETER.  An  early  settler  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick.  In  1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  of 
that  city.  He  died  in  1804  while  on  the  homeward  passage 
from  Jamaica,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine.  He  was  a  shipmaster. 

BOYD,  GEORGE.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Council  under  the  Royal  government  of  that  Pro 
vince.  On  approach  of  the  troubles  of  the  Revolution  he 
abandoned  the  country,  and  was  included  in  the  proscription 
act  of  New  Hampshire  of  1778.  He  died  in  1787,  on  his 
return  from  England  to  America. 

BOYD,  COLONEL .  Of  Carolina.  He  commanded  a  corps 

of  Tories,  who  were  robbers  rather  than  soldiers.  What  they 
could  not  consume,  nor  carry  off,  they  burned.  Advancing 
to  join  the  royal  army  near  the  river  Savannah,  Boyd  en 
countered  Colonel  Pickens  at  the  head  of  a  strong  detachment 
of  Carolina  Whigs,  and  was  defeated.  The  battle  raged  with 
great  fury ;  neighbor  fought  against  neighbor,  and  both  par 
ties  evinced  much  rancor.  Boyd  himself  was  left  dead  upon 


172  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  field ;  and  of  the  prisoners,  the  Whigs  condemned  seventy 
to  suffer  death,  but  executed  only  five.  This  affair  occurred 
in  1779,  and  repressed  the  ardor  of  the  Loyalists  in  that  re 
gion,  who  previously  were  embodying  themselves  in  consid 
erable  numbers. 

BOYLSTON,  WARD  NICHOLAS.  Of  Boston.  He  was  born  in 
that  town  in  1749.  He  went  to  England  in  1775,  at  the  close 
of  a  tour  to  some  parts  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa ;  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  formed  in  London 
in  1779.  He  continued  in  England  until  the  year  1800, 
when  he  returned  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  estab 
lished  his  residence  there.  He  died  in  1828,  aged  seventy- 
eight. 

BOYNE,  DANIEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BOURDET,  or  BURDET,  OLIVER.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BRACE,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  Royal  Fensi- 
ble  Americans. 

BRADBY,  ENOCH.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  takeli  pris 
oner  by  the  Whigs  under  Caswell,  in  1776,  and  imprisoned. 

BRADFORD,  WILLIAMS.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1760.  He  removed  from  the  United  States,  and  held  an  office 
under  the  crown  at  the  Bahamas. 

BRADISH,  EBENEZER.  A  lawyer  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1769.  In  1774  he 
was  one  of  the  barristers  and  attorneys  who  were  Addressers 
of  Hutchinson.  He  died  in  1818. 

BRADISH,  .  Of  West  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  He 

kept  a  public  house  in  that  town,  which  was  the  place  of  re 
sort  for  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  as  was  the  tavern  of 
Cooper  for  the  Whigs. 

BRADLEY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

BRAGAW.  In  1776  Peter,  John,  and  Isaac,  acknowledged 
allegiance.  In  1779  John  and  Andrew  were  Addressers  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling;  all  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  173 

BRANDEN,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Hali 
fax  with  the  British  army. 

BRANNAN,  CHARLES.  He  was  in  the  king's  service  during 
the  war,  and  at  its  close  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 
He  removed  from  that  city  to  Fredericton  in  1785,  and  con 
tinued  there  until  his  decease  in  1828,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one. 

BRANSON,  ELI.  In  1782  he  was  captain  of  the  North  Caro 
lina  Independent  Company. 

BRANTON,  HENRY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BRATEN,  THOMAS.  Of  Charlotte  County,  New  York.  He 
was  a  constable ;  and  in  1775  some  Whigs  declared  that 
"  they  would  have  him,  if  he  could  be  found  above  ground." 

BRATTLE,  THOMAS.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  born  at 
Cambridge  in  1742,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1760,  and  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  at  Yale  and  at 
Nassau.  His  family  connexions  were  among  the  most  respect 
able  of  New  England.  In  1775  he  went  to  England,  and 
was  included  in  the  proscription  and  banishment  act  of  1778. 
While  abroad,  he  travelled  over  various  parts  of  Great  Britain, 
and  made  a  tour  through  Holland  and  France;  and  was 
noticed  by  personages  of  distinction.  Returning  to  London, 
he  zealously  and  successfully  labored  to  ameliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  his  countrymen,  who  had  been  captured,  and  were  in 
prison.  In  1779  he  came  to  America,  and  landed  at  Rhode 
Island.  In  1784  the  enactments  against  him  in  Massachusetts 
were  repealed,  and  he  took  possession  of  his  patrimony.  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  liberality,  humanity,  and  science;  of 
public  spirit,  and  of  large  and  noble  views  of  men  and  things. 
He  died  in  February,  1801. 

The  late  Governor  James  Sullivan,  who  knew  him  well, 
thus  wrote:  —  "  Major  Brattle  exercised  a  deep  reverence  to 
the  principles  of  government,  and  was  a  cheerful  subject  of 
the  laws.  He  respected  men  of  science  as  the  richest  orna 
ment  of  their  country.  If  he  had  ambition,  it  was  to  excel 
in  acts  of  hospitality,  benevolence,  and  charity.  The  dazzling 
15* 


174  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

splendor  of  heroes,  and  the  achievements  of  political  intrigues, 
passed  unnoticed  before  him;  but  the  character  of  the  man 
of  benevolence  filled  his  heart  with  emotions  of  sympathy." 
*  #  *  "In  his  death,  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  distressed, 
have  lost  a  liberal  benefactor ;  politeness  an  ornament ;  and 
philanthropy  one  of  its  most  discreet  and  generous  support 
ers." 

BRATTLE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Massachusetts.  A  man  of  more 
eminent  talents,  and  of  greater  eccentricities,  has  seldom  lived. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1722 ;  and,  subse 
quently,  was  representative  from  Cambridge;  and  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Council.  He  seems  to  have  been  of 
every  profession,  and  to  have  been  eminent  in  all.  As  a 
clergyman,  his  preaching  was  acceptable.  As  a  physician,  he 
was  celebrated,  and  had  an  extensive  practice.  As  a  lawyer, 
he  had  an  abundance  of  clients ;  while  his  military  aptitudes 
secured  the  rank  of  major-general  of  the  militia,  an  office  in 
his  time  of  very  considerable  importance  and  high  honor. 
He  loved  good  living.  He  possessed  the  happy  faculty  of 
pleasing  the  officers  of  government,  and  the  people.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage,  and  approving  of  his  plans,  he  at  length 
forfeited  the  good  will  of  the  Whigs,  and  went  into  exile. 
Accompanying  the  British  troops  at  the  evacuation  of  Bos 
ton,  he  went  to  Halifax,  and  died  there  in  1776,  a  few  months 
after  his  arrival.  His  father  was  Reverend  William  Brattle 
of  Cambridge.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Governor 
Saltonstall.  His  son,  Thomas  Brattle  of  Cambridge,  died  in 
1801. 

BREMNER,  JOHN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In  1776 
he  signed  a  profession  of  loyalty  and  allegiance.  A  person 
of  this  name  died  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1807,  aged 
fifty-four. 

BRENTON.  Many  descendants  of  William  Brenton  of  Bos 
ton,  who  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  and  was  governor  of  that 
Colony,  were  Loyalists.  Among  them  were  Benjamin  and 
Jahiel,  who  were  "contractors"  for  the  royal  forces,  and  whose 
estates  were  confiscated  under  the  act  of  Rhode  Island,  in 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  175 

1780.  William  Brenton,  another  of  the  family,  who  was  an 
absentee  or  exile  during  the  war,  was  allowed,  by  a  law  of 
1783,  to  visit  and  remain  with  his  friends  one  week,  but  was 
then  required  to  depart  and  not  to  return.  Of  the  Rhode 
Island  Brentons,  it  is  further  known,  that  one  of  the  name  of 
Jahiel,  who  was  born  at  Newport,  was  an  admiral  in  the 
British  navy,  and  that  a  second  member  of  *  the  family  re 
ceived  the  order  of  knighthood,  about  the  year  1810.  The 
name  is  distinguished  in  Nova  Scotia.  In  1799  James  Bren 
ton  was  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  the  next 
year  was  appointed  Judge  of  Vice-admiralty;  and  in  1809, 
Edward  Brenton  was  commissioned  surrogate  of  the  Colony. 

BREWER,  DANIEL.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BREWERTON,  GEORGE.  Of  New  York.  Commanded  a  New 
York  Regiment  in  the  French  war ;  and  in  the  Revolution, 
the  second  battalion  of  De  Lancey's  corps ;  he  died  in  1779. 

BREWERTON,  GEORGE  and  JAMES.  Were  ensigns  in  the  second 
battalion  of  De  Lancey's  corps.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  were  grantees  of  city  lots :  both  re 
ceived  half-pay. 

BREYNTON,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  chaplain  of  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans. 

BRICKERHOFF.  Fourteen  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 
To  wit:  Abraham,  Jores,  Isaac,  Abraham  junior,  Elbert, 
Teunis,  George,  Teunis  junior,  George,  George  the  third, 
Daniel, .  Teunis,  Al,  Hendrick.  In  April,  1779,  Hendrick 
Brickerhoff,  George,  George  junior,  George,  and  Abraham, 
were  Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling.  In  1783 
Abraham  Brickerhoff  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

BRIDGEN,  EDWARD.  Of  North  Carolina.  An  estate  confis 
cated  during  the  war,  was  restored  to  him  by  act  of  Novem 
ber,  1785. 

BRIDGEWATER,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the 
Prince  of  Wales  American  Volunteers. 


176  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

BRIDGHAM,  EBENEZER.  Merchant  of  Boston.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 
In  1782  he  was  deputy  inspector-general  of  the  Loyalist 
forces.  In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BRIDGHAM,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales  American  Volunteers. 

BRINCKLE,  JOHN.  Shallopman  of  Dover,  Delaware.  In  1778 
he  was  required  by  law  to  be  tried  for  treason,  or  lose  his 
estate. 

BRINLEY,  GEORGE.  Merchant  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775 ;  was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  was  in  England  in  1783,  at  which 
time  he  was  deputy  commissary-general.  In  1799  he  was  ap 
pointed  commissary-general  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  British 
America.  His  son  Thomas,  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army, 
and  quartermaster-general  of  the  British  troops  in  the  West 
Indies,  died  in  1805  on  one  of  the  islands  of  his  station. 

BRINLEY,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Gage 
in  1775.  A  gentleman  of  this  name  died  at  Tyngsborough, 
Massachusetts,  in  1814,  aged  eighty-one. 

BRINLEY,  THOMA.S.  Merchant  of  Boston.  Graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1744.  His  name  appears  among  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  merchants  and  others,  who  ad 
dressed  Hutchinson  at  Boston,  in  1774;  and  among  the  ninety- 
seven  gentlemen  and  principal  inhabitants  of  that  town,  who 
addressed  Gage  in  October  of  the  following  year.  He  was 
proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778,  and  is  supposed  to  have  died 
in  banishment,  —  having  gone  from  Boston  to  Halifax  in  1776, 
and  to  England  the  same  year. 

BRISBANE,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Congratulator  of 
Cornwallis  on  his  victory  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  He  was  banished. 

BRITTAIN,  BAILEY.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment. 

BRITTAIN,  JAMES.  Of  New  Jersey.  He  wished  to  take  no 
part  in  the  Revolutionary  controversy,  but  having  become  ob- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  177 

noxious,  his  house  was  surrounded  by  a  party  of  about  thirty, 
who  robbed  and  plundered  him  at  pleasure.  He  escaped  to 
the  woods,  where  his  wife  fed  him  for  nearly  a  month. 
Emerging  from  his  hiding  place,  he  joined  Skinner  with  sev 
enty  men,  whom  he  had  engaged  to  bear  arms  against  the 
rebels.  He  was  in  a  number  of  battles.  In  one,  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  doomed  to  suffer  death.  The  day  be 
fore  that  appoiuted  for  his  execution,  he  broke  from  prison, 
swam  the  Delaware,  and  joined  his  corps.  In  1782  he  was 
an  ensign  in  the  first  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  and 
at  the  peace,  a  lieutenant.  In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Duke  of  Richmond,  and  was  the 
grantee  of  a  city  lot.  He  received  half-pay.  He  was  a 
colonel  of  New  Brunswick  militia,  and,  at  his  decease,  the 
oldest  magistrate  of  King's  County.  He  died  at  Greenwich 
in  that  county  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  Ten 
children  survived  him.  His  widow,  Eleanor,  died  at  Green 
wich  in  1846,  aged  ninety-four.  His  daughter  Eleanor  is  the 
wife  of  Walker  Tisdale,  Esquire,  of  St.  John. 

BRITTAIN,  JOSEPH.  Of  New  Jersey.  Brother  of  James. 
He  was  an  ensign  in  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  and  was 
taken  prisoner  with  James,  doomed  to  the  same  fate,  and 
made  his  escape  at  the  same  time.  He  went  to  St.  John  in 
the  ship  Duke  of  Richmond  in  1780,  and  died  in  1830,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two,  in  King's  County.  He  received  half-pay. 

BRITTAIN,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  Jersey.  Brother  of  James 
and  Joseph.  He  was  in  the  king's  service,  but  not  in  commis 
sion.  He  shared  in  the  captivity,  and  in  the  escape  of  James 
and  Joseph.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  in  New 
Brunswick  about  the  year  1811. 

BRITTENNY,  JOHN.  In  1783  he  removed  to  New  Brunswick, 
and  settled  in  King's  County,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  his  decease,  a  period  of  upwards  of  sixty-three  years. 
He  died  at  Greenwich  in  that  county  in  1846,  in  the  ninety- 
fifth  year  of  his  age. 

BROCKENBOROUGH,  AUSTIN.     Of  Virginia.     The  Whig  Com- 


178 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


mittee  of  King  George's  County,  after  an  attempt  to  reclaim 
him  from  error,  published  him  in  April,  1775,  as  an  enemy 
to  American  liberty.  Of  this  Committee  John  Washington 
was  a  member. 

BROCKINGTON,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  held 
a  place  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston  in 
17SO.  Estate  confiscated. 

BROOKS,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  In  1778  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished. 

BROOKS,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  England,  and  was 
a  member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  formed  in  London,  in 
1779. 

BROOKS,  CAPTAIN .  Commanded  a  party  of  plunderers. 

On  one  occasion,  early  in  1783,  while  on  an  expedition  in  the 
Delaware,  a  Methodist  preacher  fell  into  his  hands,  and  was 
required  to  preach  or  to  be  whipped  to  death.  The  minister 
declining  to  give  a  sermon  to  such  hearers,  was  tied  up  and 
received  nearly  one  hundred  lashes.  On  his  promise  never  to 
serve  the  rebels  more,  he  was  allowed  to  depart,  much  ex 
hausted  and  lacerated. 

BROOMER,  JOSHUA.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778. 

BROTHERS,  JOSEPH.  He  died  at  Carlton,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1836,  aged  seventy-two. 

BROWN,  DANIEL.  Of  Maine.  Emigrated  in  early  youth  from 
Scotland  to  Castine,  and  in  the  Revolution  took  an  active- 
part  in  the  royal  cause.  At  the  peace  he  removed  to  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
died  at  St.  Stephen,  March,  1835,  aged  ninety-one,  and  left 
upwards  of  two  hundred  descendants.  His  memory  was 
good,  and  the  events  of  his  life  were  impressed  upon  its 
tablets  to  the  last.  His  daughter  Catharine  died  a  few  days 
after  him,  aged  fifty-five. 

BROWN,  DANIEL  and  BOSTWICK.  Residence  unknown.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  were  grantees 
of  the  city. 

BROWN,  ELIJAH.    Of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.    Was  con- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  179 

fined  for  disaffection,  and  subsequently  sent  prisoner  to  Vir 
ginia. 

BROWN,  HENRY  B.  Residence  unknown.  Settled  in  New 
Brunswick.  Was  registrar  of  deeds  and  wills  for  the  County 
of  Charlotte,  and  died  there. 

BROWN,  HUGH  and  MALCOLM.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held 
commissions  under  the  crown  in  1780,  and  lost  their  estates 
under  the  confiscation  act. 

BROWN,  ISAAC.  Residence  unknown.  Was  chaplain  of  the 
New  York  Volunteers. 

BROWN,  ISAAC,  JOSIAH,  and  THOMAS.  Of  Westchester 
County,  New  York.  Were  Protesters  against  the  Whigs  in 
1775. 

BROWN,  JACOB.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

BROWN,  JAMES  CALDWELL.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  King's  Rangers  Carolina. 

BROWN,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  Was  sent 
by  Congress  to  the  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
1777,  to  answer  for  his  political  offences. 

BROWN,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  Was  a  merchant  of  Norfolk. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  1775,  the  Whig  Committee  held  him 
up  as  an  object  of  just  indignation,  for  wilfully  violating 
the  Continential  Association,  and  in  April  following,  it  was 
resolved,  "That  we  will  not  hereafter  transact  any  business, 
or  have  any  connexion  with  the  said  Brown." 

BROWN,  JONATHAN.  Residence  unknown.  An  ensign  in  the 
Guides  and  Pioneers. 

BROWN,  LEMUEL.  Residence  unknown.  Joined  the  royal 
troops  in  Rhode  Island  in  the  fall  of  1777. 

BROWN,  MELTIAH.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  com 
mitted  to  jail  in  1778  for  disaffection  to  the  Whig  cause. 

BROWN,  ROGER  and  ARCHIBALD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina.  Were  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  the  same  year, 
and  the  latter  was  banished,  and  was  deprived  of  his  pro 
perty. 

BROWN,    THOMAS.      Of  Augusta,    Georgia.     Was   an   early 


180  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

victim  of  a  mob,  and  was  tarred  and  feathered,  soon  after  the 
division  and  array  of  parties  in  the  Southern  Colonies.  He 
entered  the  royal  service,  and  commanded,  as  lieutenant- 
colonel,  a  corps  called  the  King's  Rangers  Carolina.  At  the 
peace,  he  retired,  it  is  believed,  to  Florida,  and  thence  to  the 
Bahamas.  He  was  known  during  hostilities  as  a  sanguinary 
and  active  partisan  officer,  and  his  conduct  is  open  to  severe 
censure. 

BROWN,  THOMAS.  Residence  unknown.  Embarked  at  Bos 
ton  for  Halifax  with  the  British  army  in  1776. 

BROWN,  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  a 
captain  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

BROWN,  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  Ensign  in  the 
Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

BROWN,  ZACHARIAH.  Residence  unknown.  A  lieutenant  in 
De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion,  retired  to  the  same  Colony, 
received  half-pay,  and  died  in  the  County  of  Sunbury  in 
1817,  aged  seventy-eight. 

BROWNE,  ARTHUR.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  An 
Episcopal  clergyman.  Was  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  He  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  and 
assumed  the  charge  of  a  society  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 
In  1736  he  removed  to  Portsmouth,  and  became  the  first 
minister  of  the  Episcopal  church  of  that  town,  and  continued 
his  connexion  until  his  decease.  He  died  at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  in  1773,  aged  seventy-three. 

BROWNE,  EBENEZER.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the 
Guides  and  Pioneers. 

BROWNE,  MARMADUKE.  Son  of  Arthur.  He  was  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and  died  there  about 
the  year  1771.  His  son  Arthur,  who  died  in  1805,  was  doctor 
of  laws,  and  King's  professor  of  Greek  in  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  a  very  eminent  man. 

BROWNE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  a 
grandson  of  governor  Burnet,  a  great  grandson  of  Bishop 
Burnet,  and  a  connexion  of  Winthrop,  the  first  resident  gov 
ernor  of  Massachusetts;  and  graduated  at  Harvard  Univer- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  181 

sity,  in  1755.  A  member  of  the  General  Court  in  1768,  he 
was  one  of  the  seventeen  Rescinders.  He  was  a  Colonel  of 
the  Essex  County  militia ;  one  of  the  ten  Mandamus  Counsel 
lors  who  were  sworn  in,  and  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
He  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1774;  was  included  in  the 
banishment  act  of  1778 ;  and  in  the  conspiracy  act  of  the  year 
following.  He  was  the  owner  of  immense  landed  estates, 
which  were  confiscated.  Prior  to  the  revolutionary  troubles, 
he  enjoyed  great  popularity,  and  strong  inducements  were 
held  out  to  him  to  join  the  Whigs.  After  leaving  Massachu 
setts,  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Bermudas.  He  died 
in  England,  February,  1802,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

BROWNELL,  JEREMIAH.  He  died  in  Westmoreland  County, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1835,  aged  eighty-eight. 

BROWNELL,  JOSHUA.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

BROWNRIG,  JOHN  STUDHOLME.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace.  He  was  grantee  of  a  city  lot. 

BRUCE,  DAVID.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished.  In 
1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

BRUCE,  JAMES.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished.  This  gentleman,  I  conclude,  commanded  the 
ship  Eleanor ;  and  if  so,  he,  like  Hall,  of  the  Dartmouth,  and 
Coflin,  of  the  Beaver,  is  connected  with  the  celebrated  tea 
controversy.  The  Eleanor,  Captain  James  Bruce,  arrived 
in  Boston,  December  1st,  1773,  with  a  part  of  the  tea  sent 
over  by  the  East  India  Company,  which,  after  several  days 
of  fruitless  negotiation,  was  thrown  into  the  harbor,  at 
Griffin's  Wharf. 

BRUNDAGE.  Four  persons  of  thisjiame  settled  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  of  whom,  Joshua, 
Andrew,  and  Daniel  were  grantees  of  that  city.  The  other, 
Jeremiah,  died  at  St.  John  in  1816,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six; 
and  his  widow,  Elizabeth,  died  at  the  same  place,  in  1831, 
aged  fifty-eight. 

BRUSH,  .  Of  Cumberland  County,  New  York.  A 

16 


182  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

member  of  the  House  of  Assembly.  In  February,  1775,  he 
delivered  a  set-speech  against  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Thomas, 
to  elect  delegates  to  the  Second  Continential  Congress,  which 
was  published.  He  was  answered  by  Messrs.  Schuyler  and 
Clinton,  who  spoke  several  times.  Mr.  Brush's  name  is  found 
continually  among  the  "Nays"  on  Whig  measures,  and  with 
the  members  of  the  ministerial  party ;  and  he  is  mentioned 
in  McFingal. 

BRYAN,  SAMUEL.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

BRYANT,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BRYANT,  SETH.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BRYMER,  ALEXANDER.  Merchant  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Gage  in  1775.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 
In  1782  a  gentleman  of  this  name,  and  supposed  to  be  the 
same,  was  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  His  Majesty's  Council. 
He  died  at  Halifax  in  1809. 

BUBLER,  JOSEPH.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

BUCHANAN,  GILBERT.  Of  Maryland.  He  was  in  London  in 
1779,  and  addressed  the  King,  July  6th,  of  that  year. 

BUCHANAN,  WILLIAM.  Innkeeper  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 
A  statute  of  1778  declared,  that  his  property  should  become 
forfeit  to  the  State,  if  he  failed  to  surrender  himself  within 
a  certain  day. 

BUCKINGHAM,  ELIAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  held  a  com 
mission  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston 
by  General  Lincoln  in  1780.  Estate  confiscated. 

BUCKLE,  THOMAS,  Senior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  ban 
ished,  and  his  property  was  confiscated.  His  son  Thomas 
offended  in  the  same  manner,  and  his  person  and  property 
were  disposed  of  in  the  same  way. 

BUCKLEY,  THOMAS.     He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick 

j 

at  the  peace.     He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  183 

BUDD,  ELISHA.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment. 

BUDD,  JONATHAN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

BUDE,  JOSEPH.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

BUFFINGTON,  JACOB.  He  settled  in  Charlotte  County,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  surveyor  of  lands.  His  surveys  were 
very  accurate.  He  returned  to  the  United  States. 

BULKLEY,  GERSHAM.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

BULKLEY,  PETER.  Was  also  a  member  of  the  Association 
at  Reading. 

BULL,  CAPTAIN .  Of  New  York.  He  was  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  crown,  and  his  name  appears  in  the  interview  be 
tween  the  celebrated  Mohawk,  Brant,  and  the  Whig  General 
Herkimer,  at  Unadilla,  New  York,  in  1777.  When  the  Indian 
chief  met  the  Whig,  he  was  accompanied  by  Bull,  a  son  of 
Sir  William  Johnson  by  Brandt's  sister  Mary,  or  Molly,  and 
about  forty  warriors.  During  the  meeting,  Herkimer  de 
manded  the  surrender  of  several  Tories,  which  Brant  pe 
remptorily  refused.  This  was  the  last  conference  held  with 
the  hostile  Mohawks. 

BULL,  GEORGE.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In 
17  82  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  American  Legion 
under  Arnold.  He  retired  on  half-pay  at  the  peace,  and 
settled  in  New  Brunswick.  He  died  at  Woodstock  in  1838, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 

Bull,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  His  father,  Honorable 
William  Bull,  was  Lieutenant-governor  of  that  Colony,  and 
died  in  1755,  aged  seventy-two.  The  subject  of  this  notice 
was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  first  American  who  obtained  a  degree  in  medicine.  He 
was  a  pupil  of  Boerhaave.  Returning  to  this  country  after 
completing  his  studies,  he  rose  to  distinction  in  literature, 
medical  science,  and  politics.  In  1751  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Council;  in  1763  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates; 


184  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  in  1764  Lieutenant-governor  of  South  Carolina.  In  the 
last  office  he  continued  many  years,  and  was  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Colony.  He  accompanied  the  British  troops  to 
England  in  1782,  and,  continuing  there,  died  in  London,  July 
4,  1791,  aged  eighty-one. 

BULYEA,  ABRAHAM.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783 ; 
and  died  in  King's  County  in  that  Colony  in  1833,  aged  sev 
enty-seven. 

BULYEA,  JOHN.  In  1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal 
Artillery  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  Sarah,  his  widow, 
died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1843,  aged  nine 
ty-nine,  leaving  six  children,  fifty-five  grand-children,  and 
fifty-seven  great  grand-children. 

BUMPUS,  THOMAS.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BUNNEL,  ISAAC.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

BUNTING,  ROLAND.  He  died  at  Loch  Lomond,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1839,  at  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  years. 

BURCH,  WILLIAM.  Commissioner  of  the  Customs,  Boston. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778 ;  and  included  in  the 
conspiracy  act  of  1779. 

BURD,  JOHN.  Butcher,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1778  the 
Council  of  Pennsylvania  ordered,  that  failing  to  surrender 
himself  to  some  Judge  of  a  Court,  or  to  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  prior  to  December  15th,  to  abide  a  legal  trial  for  trea 
son,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

BURDEN,  THOMAS.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  arrived  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  seven  children,  in 
1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

BURDEN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778. 

BURGE,  DAVID.  Blacksmith  of  Solebnry,  Pennsylvania.  In 
1778  the  Council  ordered,  that  he  appear  and  abide  a  trial  for 
treason,  or  that  he  stand  attainted. 

BURGES,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  185 

BURKE,  John.  Of  the  Manor  of  Moorland,  Pennsylvania. 
In  1778  the  Council  ordered  him  to  surrender  and  abide  a 
legal  trial  for  treason,  or  to  stand  attainted. 

BURKETT,  JOHN.  Waterman,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1778  the 
Council  of  Pennsylvania  ordered,  that  unless  he  appeared  and 
was  tried  for  treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

BURLING,  JOSEPH.  Of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  New  York. 
A  signer  of  the  Declaration  in  1775. 

BURLOCK,  WIDOW  HESTER.  Of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  She 
arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  one  child,  in  the 
ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of  1783. 

BURN,  PATRICK.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

BURNET,  MATHIAS.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  He  was  born 
in  New  Jersey,  and  graduated  at  Princeton  College,  in  1769. 
He  was  settled  at  Jamaica  in  1775,  and  continued  with  his 
people  during  the  war.  After  the  peace,  and  in  1785,  he  was 
compelled,  by  the  force  of  party  spirit,  to  dissolve  the  connex 
ion.  It  is  said  that  he  was  the  only  Presbyterian  minister  of 
Queen's  County  who  was  reputed  to  be  a  friend  to  government. 
His  wife  was  an  Episcopalian,  and,  removing  to  Norwalk, 
Connecticut,  he  took  charge  of  a  church  of  that  communion. 
He  died  at  Norwalk  in  1806. 

BURNHAM,  CHARLES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BURNS,  GEORGE.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans. 

BURR,  ABEL,  ABEL  Junior,  JONATHAN,  and  JOSEPH.  Of  Fair- 
field  County,  Connecticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading 
Loyalist  Association. 

BURR,  HUDSON.  Hatter,  of  Philadelphia.  Was  required 
by  a  proclamation  of  the  executive  Council  in  1778,  to 
surrender  himself  for  trial  for  treason,  or  stand  attainted. 

BURRIS,  SAMUEL.  A  Whig  soldier.  In  1778  he  was  tried 
on  a  charge  of  attempting  to  desert  to  the  royal  side.  He 
confessed  his  guilt,  and  was  sentenced  to  receive  one  hundred 
lashes. 

16* 


186  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

BURROUGHS,  JOHN.  He  was  at  Halifax  in  July,  1776,  a 
Loyalist  Refugee. 

BURROUGHS,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against 
the  Whigs  in  1774. 

BURROWS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Little  Creek,  Delaware.  In  1773 
it  was  declared  by  law,  that  his  estate  would  become  forfeit 
to  the  State,  on  his  failing  to  appear  and  take  his  trial  for 
treason,  on  or  before  the  first  of  August  of  that  year. 

BURT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1 780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782.  His  property  was  confiscated. 

BURTIS.  Seven  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To 
wit:  Elias,  John,  John,  Carman,  John,  James,  John.  Two 
others  of  the  name  of  Burtis,  and  probably  of  the  same 
family,  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and 
were  grantees  of  the  city.  These  were  William,  who  died 
at  St.  John  in  1835,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five ;  and  Thomas, 
whose  fate  has  not  been  ascertained. 

BURTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774,  and  one  of  the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson  the 
same  year.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

BURWELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Newtown,  Connecticut.  In  1775 
he  acted  as  the  clerk,  or  secretary,  of  a  public  meeting  that 
passed  several  votes  in  opposition  to  the  Whigs. 

BURY,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

BUSH,  DAVID.  Of  Shrewsbury,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

BUSSING,  PETER,  Junior.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester  at  White  Plains.  His  father's  name  is  to  be 
found  on  the  Protest,  but  was  placed  there  without  au 
thority. 

BUSKIRK,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  He  removed  to  Nova 
Scotia  in  1783,  and  was  many  years  a  magistrate  of  King's 
County.  He  died  at  Aylesford,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1841. 

BUSTIN,  THOMAS.     Of  Virginia.     He  joined  the  royal  army 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  187 

at  New  York  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities ;  and  at 
the  peace  removed  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  where  he 
lived  until  his  decease,  some  years  since,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
Seven  children  survived  him. 

BUTLER,  Captain  -  — .  He  was  a  Tory  leader,  whose 
crimes  and  ferocity  were  well  known  in  the  region  of  the  Pe- 
dee.  During  a  period  of  Whig  ascendency  in  that  part  of 
South  Carolina,  he  went  into  General  Marion's  camp  at  Birch's 
Mills,  and  submitting  himself,  claimed  the  protection  which 
the  Whig  officer  had  granted  to  some  other  Loyalists  who 
had  preceded  him.  Against  this,  some  of  Marion's  officers, 
whose  friends  had  suffered  at  Butler's  hands,  protested.  But 
Marion  took  the  humbled  Butler  to  his  own  tent,  and  declared 
that  he  would  protect  him  at  the  hazard  of  his  own  life.  The 
officers,  still  determined  to  indulge  their  hate,  sent  their  com 
mander  an  offensive  message  to  the  effect,  that  "Butler  should 
be  dragged  to  death  from  his  tent,"  and  that,  "to  defend  such 
a  wretch  was  an  insult  to  humanity."  Marion  was  not  to  be 
intimidated;  and  though  the  meeting  among  his  followers 
threatened  to  be  formidable,  he  succeeded  in  conveying  Butler 
under  a  strong  guard  to  a  place  of  safety. 

BUTLER,  GILLAM.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished.  He  went  to  Halifax  with  the  British  troops. 

BUTLER,  JAMES.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

BUTLER,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  I  know  of  no  men  of  the  Revolution  so  entirely  infa 
mous  as  the  Butlers, — father  and  son.  Before  the  war,  Colonel 
Butler  was  in  close  official  connexion  with  Sir  William,  Sir 
John,  and  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  and  followed  their  political 
fortunes.  At  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  he  commanded  a 
regiment  of  New  York  militia,  and  entered  at  once  into  the 
military  service  of  the  crown.  During  the  war  his  wife  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  exchanged  for  the  wife  of  the  Whig  Colonel 
Campbell.  The  deeds  of  rapine,  of  murder,  of  hellish  hue, 
which  were  perpetrated  by  Butler's  corps,  cannot  be  related 
here.  It  is  sufficient,  for  the  purpose  of  these  Notes,  to  say, 


1S8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

that  he  commanded  the  sixteen  hundred  incarnate  fiends  who 
desolated  Wyoming.  I  feel  quite  willing  to  allow,  that  his 
tory  has  recorded  barbarities  which  were  not  committed.  But 
though  Butler  did  not  permit  or  directly  authorize  women  to 
be  driven  into  the  forest  where  they  became  mothers,  and 
where  their  infants  were  eaten  by  wild  beasts,  and  though  cap 
tive  officers  may  not  have  been  held  upon  fires  with  pitch 
forks  until  they  were  burned  to  death ;  sufficient  remains 
undoubted,  to  stamp  his  conduct  with  the  deepest,  darkest, 
most  damning  guilt.  The  human  mind  can  hardly  frame  an 
argument,  which  shall  clear  the  fame  of  Butler  from  obloquy 
and  reproach.  To  admit  even  as  a  solved  question,  that  the 
Loyalists  were  in  the  right,  and  that  they  were  bound  by  the 
clearest  rules  of  duty,  to  bear  arms  in  defence  of  lawful  and 
existing  institutions,  and  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  will  do 
Butler  no  good.  For,  whatever  the  force  of  such  a  plea  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  urge  it,  he  was  still  bound  to  observe 
the  laws  of  civilized  warfare. 

That  he,  and  he  alone,  will  be  regarded  by  posterity  as  the 
real  and  responsible  actor  in  the  business  and  slaughter  at 
Wyoming,  may  be  considered,  perhaps,  as  certain.  The 
chieftain  Brant,  was,  for  a  time,  held  accountable,  but  the 
better  information  of  later  years  transfers  the  guilt  from  the 
savage  to  the  man  of  Saxon  blood.  There  was  nothing  for 
which  the  Mohawk's  family  labored  more  earnestly  than  to 
show,  that  their  renowned  head  was  not  implicated  in  this 
bloody  tragedy,  and  that  the  accounts  of  historians,  and  the 
enormities  recounted  in  Campbell's  verse,  as  far  as  they  relate 
to  him,  are  untrue.  It  has  been  said  very  commonly,  that 
the  Colonel  Butler,  who  was  of  the  Whig  force  at  Wyoming, 
and  Colonel  John,  were  kinsmen;  but  this,  too,  has  been  con 
tradicted.  The  late  Edward  D.  Griffin,  —  a  youth,  a  writer 
and  a  poet  of  rare  promise,  —  and  a  grandson  of  the  former, 
denied  the  relationship. 

Colonel  John  Butler  was  richly  rewarded  for  his  services. 
Succeeding,  in  part,  to  the  agency  of  Indian  affairs  —  long 
held  by  the  Johnsons  —  he  enjoyed,  about  the  year  1796,  a  sal- 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  189 

ary  of  £500  sterling  per  annum,  and  a  pension  as  a  military 
officer  of  £  200  more.  Previously,  he  had  received  a  grant  of 
five  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  a  similar  provision  for  his 
children.  His  home,  after  the  war,  was  in  Upper  Canada. 
He  was  attainted  during  the  contest,  by  the  act  of  New  York, 
and  his  property  confiscated.  Colonel  Butler  lived  before  the 
Revolution  in  the  present  town  of  Mohawk.  His  dwelling 
was  of  one  story,  with  two  windows  in  front,  and  a  door  in 
the  centre.  It  was  standing  in  1842,  and  was  then  owned 
and  occupied  by  Mr.  Wilson.  The  site  is  pleasant  and  com 
manding,  and  overlooks  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk. 

BUTLER,  JOSIAH.     He   died   at   St.  John,   New   Brunswick, 
in  1812,  aged  fifty. 

BUTLER,  WALTER  N.  Son  of  Colonel  John  Butler.  Entered 
the  British  service,  and  became  a  major.  His  name  is  con 
nected  with  some  of  the  most  infamous  transactions  of  the 
Revolution.  While  a  lieutenant  under  St.  Leger,  he  was 
taken  prisoner  at  the  house  of  a  Loyalist  who  lived  near 
Fort  Dayton,  and  was  put  upon  his  trial  as  a  spy,  convicted 
and  received  sentence  of  death.  But  at  the  intercession  of 
several  American  officers  who  had  known  him  while  a  student 
at  law  in  Albany,  his  life  was  spared  by  a  reprieve.  The 
friends  of  the  Butler  family,  in  consequence  of  his  alleged  ill- 
health,  induced  his  removal  from  rigorous  confinement  to  a 
private  house  under  guard,  and  he  soon  escaped,  and  joined 
his  father.  It  is  believed,  that  he  took  mortal  offence  at  his 
treatment  while  the  prisoner  of  the  Whigs,  and  that  he  re- 
entered  the  service  of  the  crown,  burning  with  resentment  and 
thirsting  for  revenge.  His  subsequent  career  was  short,  bold, 
cruel,  and  bloody.  He  was  killed  in  battle  in  1781,  and  his 
remains  were  left  to  decay  without  even  the  rudest  rites  of 
sepulture.  It  is  represented  that  his  disposition  was  so  vin 
dictive  and  his  passions  so  strong,  that  British  officers  of  rank 
and  humanity  viewed  him  with  horror.  The  late  Doctor 
Dwight  —  a  careful  writer  —  relates,  that  at  Cherry  Valley 
he  ordered  a  woman  and  child  to  be  slain  in  bed,  and  that 
the  more  merciful  Brant  interposed  and  said:  "What!  kill 


190  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

a  woman  and  child  !  No  !  That  child  is  not  an  enemy  to 
the  king,  nor  a  friend  to  the  Congress.  Long  before  he  will 
be  big  enough  to  do  any  mischief,  the  dispute  will  be  set 
tled." 

BYINGTON,  JOHN,  Junior.     Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut. 
A  member  of  the  Reading  Association. 

BYLES,  MATHER,  D.  D.  Of  Boston.  He  was  born  in  Boston 
in  1706,  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1725,  and  was 
ordained  the  first  pastor  of  the  Hollis  Street  Church  in  1733. 
On  his  mother's  side,  he  was  descended  from  Richard  Mather 
and  John  Cotton.  He  continued  to  live  happily  with  his 
parish  until  the  Revolution,  when,  in  1776,  the  connexion  was 
dissolved,  and  never  renewed.  In  1777  he  was  denounced  in 
town-meeting,  and  having  been  by  a  subsequent  trial  pro 
nounced  guilty  of  attachment  to  the  royal  cause,  was  sen 
tenced  to  confinement,  and  to  be  sent  with  his  family  to 
England.  This  doom  of  banishment  was  never  enforced,  and 
he  was  permitted  to  remain  in  Boston.  He  died  in  1788, 
aged  eighty-two  years.  He  was  a  scholar,  and  Pope,  Lans- 
downe,  and  Watts,  were  his  correspondents.  His  witticisms 
would  fill  many  pages ;  some  of  his  finest  sayings  have  been 
preserved.  In  his  pulpit,  he  avoided  politics,  and  on  being 
asked  the  reason,  replied:  "I  have  thrown  up  four  breast 
works,  behind  which  I  have  entrenched  myself,  neither  of 
which  can  be  enforced.  In  the  first  place,  I  do  not  understand 
politics;  in  the  second  place,  you  all  do,  every  man  and 
mother's  son  of  you ;  in  the  third  place,  you  have  politics  all 
the  week,  pray  let  one  day  in  seven  be  devoted  to  religion ; 
in  the  fourth  place,  I  am  engaged  in  work  of  infinitely  greater 
importance ;  give  me  any  subject  to  preach  on  of  more  conse 
quence  than  the  truth  I  bring  to  you,  and  I  will  preach  on  it 
the  next  Sabbath."  On  another  occasion,  when  under  sen 
tence  of  the  Whigs  to  remain  in  his  own  house  under  guard, 
he  persuaded  the  sentinel  to  go  on  an  errand  for  him,  promising 
to  perform  sentinel's  duty  himself,  and  to  the  great  amusement 
of  all,  gravely  marched  before  his  own  door  with  a  musket 
on  his  shoulder,  until  his  keeper  returned.  This  was  after 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  191 

his  trial,  and  alluding  to  the  circumstance,  that  he  had  been 
kept  prisoner,  that  his  guard  had  been  removed,  and  replaced 
again;  he  said,  that  "he  had  been  guarded,  re-guarded,  and 
disregarded"  Near  his  house,  in  wet  weather,  was  a  very  bad 
slough.  It  happened  that  two  of  the  selectmen  who  had  the 
care  of  the  streets,  driving  in  a  chaise,  stuck  fast  in  this  hole, 
and  were  obliged  to  get  out  in  the  mud  to  extricate  their 
vehicle.  Doctor  Byles  came  out,  and  making  them  a  respectful 
bow,  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  have  often  complained  to  you  of 
this  nuisance  without  any  attention  being  paid  to  it,  and  I  am 
very  glad  to  see  you  stirring  in  this  matter  now."  On  the 
celebrated  dark  day  in  1780,  a  lady  who  lived  near  the  Doctor, 
sent  her  young  son  with  her  compliments,  to  know  if  he  could 
account  for  the  uncommon  appearance.  His  answer  was : 
"  My  dear,  you  will  give  my  compliments  to  your  mamma,  and 
tell  her  that  I  am  as  much  in  the  dark  as  she  is."  He  paid  his 
addresses  unsuccessfully  to  a  lady,  who  afterwards  married  a 
gentleman  of  the  name  of  Q,uincy ;  the  Doctor  on  meeting 
her  said :  "  So,  madam,  it  appears  that  you  prefer  a  Quincy 
to  Byles."  "  Yes,  for  if  there  had  been  anything  worse  than 
biles,  God  would  have  afflicted  Job  with  them." 

Doctor  Byles's  wit  created  many  a  laugh,  and  many  an 
enemy.  In  person  he  was  tall  and  commanding.  His  voice 
was  strong  and  harmonious,  and  his  delivery  graceful.  His 
first  wife  was  a  niece  of  Governor  Belcher,  the  second,  a 
daughter  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Tailer.  His  two  daughters 
lived  and  died  in  the  old  family  house  at  the  corner  of  Nassau 
and  Tremont  streets.  One  of  them  deceased  in  1835,  the 
other  in  1837.  They  were  stout,  unchanging  Loyalists  to  the 
last  hour  of  their  existence.  Their  thread  of  life  was  spun 
out  more  than  half  a  century  after  the  royal  government  had 
ceased  in  these  States ;  yet  they  retained  their  love  of,  and 
strict  adherence  to,  monarch  and  monarchies,  and  refused  to 
acknowledge  that  the  Revolution  had  transferred  their  alle 
giance  to  new  rulers.  They  were  repeatedly  offered  a  great 
price  for  their  dwelling,  but  would  not  sell  it,  nor  would  they 
permit  improvements  or  alterations.  They  possessed  old- 


192  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

fashioned  silver-plate  which  they  never  used,  and  would  not 
dispose  of.  They  worshipped  in  Trinity  Church — under  which 
their  bodies  now  lie  —  and  wore  on  Sunday  dresses  almost  as 
old  as  themselves.  Among  their  furniture  was  a  pair  of  bel 
lows  two  centuries  old ;  a  table  on  which  Franklin  drank  tea 
on  his  last  visit  to  Boston  ;  a  chair  which  more  than  a  hundred 
years  before  the  government  of  England  had  sent  as  a  pre 
sent  to  their  grandfather,  Lieutenant  Governor  Tailer.  They 
shewed  to  visiters  commissions  to  their  grandfather,  signed  by 
Queen  Anne,  and  three  of  the  Georges ;  and  the  envelope  of  a 
letter  from  Pope  to  their  father.  They  had  moss,  gathered 
from  the  birthplace  of  the  unfortunate  Lady  Jane  Grey.  They 
talked  of  their  walks  arm  in  arm  on  Boston  Common  with 
General  Howe  and  Lord  Percy,  while  the  British  army  occu 
pied  Boston.  They  told  of  his  Lordship's  ordering  his  band 
to  play  under  their  windows  for  their  gratification. 

In  the  progress  of  the  improvements  in  Boston,  a  part  of  their 
dwelling  was  removed.  This  had  a  fatal  influence  upon  the 
elder  sister;  she  mourned  over  the  sacrilege,  and,  it  is  thought, 
died  its  victim.  "  That,"  said  the  survivor,  "  that  is  one  of 
the  consequences  of  living  in  a  republic.  Had  we  been  living 
under  a  king,  he  would  have  cared  nothing  about  our  little 
property,  and  we  could  have  enjoyed  it  in  our  own  way  as 
long  as  we  lived.  But,"  continued  she,  "  there  is  one  comfort, 
that  not  a  creature  in  the  States  will  be  any  better  for  what 
we  shall  leave  behind  us."  She  was  true  to  her  promise,  for 
the  Byles'  estate  passed  to  relatives  in  the  Colonies.  One  of 
these  ladies  of  a  by-gone  age,  wrote  to  William  the  Fourth  on 
his  accession  to  the  throne.  They  had  known  the  "  sailor- 
king"  during  the  Revolution,  and  now  assured  him,  that  the 
family  of  Doctor  Byles  always  had  been,  and  would  continue 
to  be,  loyal  to  their  rightful  sovereign  of  England. 

BYLES,  MATHER,  Junior,  D.  D.  Of  Boston.  An  Episcopal 
clergyman.  Son  of  Mather  Byles,  D.  D.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1751,  and  became  a  minister  in  New 
London,  Connecticut.  Dismissed  in  1768,  he  was  inducted 
into  office  as  the  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Boston,  the  same 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  193 

year.  Of  Christ  Church  he  was  the  third  in  succession,  and 
continued  to  discharge  his  ministerial  duties  until  1775,  when 
the  force  of  events  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  flock.  In 
1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  after  the 
war,  and  was  rector  of  the  city,  and  chaplain  of  New  Bruns 
wick.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1814.  His  daughter  Anna  mar 
ried  Thomas  Deisbrisay,  lieutenant-colonel  of  artillery  in  the 
British  army  in  1799.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  married  Will 
iam  Scovil,  Esquire,  of  St.  John,  and  died  in  1808,  at  the  age 
of  forty-one.  His  son  Belcher  died  in  England  in  1815,  aged 
thirty-five. 

CABLE.  Loyalists  of  this  name  were  numerous  in  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  In  1778  Jabez  Cable,  accompanied  by 
John,  Jonathan,  and  Jared,  belonged  to  a  party  that  had  an 
affray  with  some  Whigs  who  landed  on  Long  Island.  In 
1783  several  of  the  Cables  removed  to  New  Brunswick. 
Jabez,  David,  John,  Denbo,  and  Daniel,  are  remembered. 
Jabez,  David,  and  Denbo  were  grantees  of  lots  in  the  city 
of  St.  John.  Daniel  died  at  St.  John  in  1818,  and  John  in 
1827. 

CABOT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  An  Addresser 
of  Gage  in  1774.  He  was  in  England  in  1776. 

CAGNEY,  WILLIAM.  Was  a  cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  American 
Legion. 

CALDWELL,  CAPTAIN .     Was  killed  in  Pennsylvania   in 

1780,  by  a  Whig  captain,  McMahon,  whom  he  and  an  In 
dian  had  taken  prisoner. 

CALDWELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

CALEF,  JOHN.  A  physician  and  surgeon.  He  died  at  St. 
Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  in  1812,  aged  eighty-seven. 

CALEF,  ROBERT.  Son  of  John  Calef.  Died  at  Norfolk, 
Virginia,  in  1801,  at  the  age  of  forty-one. 

CALLAGAN,  JOHN.     Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.     An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 
17 


194 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


CALLAHAN,  CHARLES.  Mariner  of  Pownalborough,  now  Wis- 
casset,  Maine ;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CALLAHAN,  NICHOLAS.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

CALP,  PHILIP.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  he  was  tried  for 
attempting  to  carry  flour  to  a  post  occupied  by  the  royal  forces, 
and  was  sentenced  to  receive  fifty  lashes,  and  to  be  employed 
on  the  public  works  during  the  time  the  British  remained  in 
Pennsylvania,  unless  he  would  enter  the  Whig  service  for 
the  war.  The  lashes  were  disapproved  by  the  Commander- 
in-chief,  and  were  not  inflicted. 

CAMERON,  DONALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  in  arms 
against  the  Whigs  at  an  early  moment.  In  1776  he  was 
a  lieutenant,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  Colonel  Caswell,  and 
confined  in  jail.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Rangers  Carolina. 

CAMERON,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  King's  Rangers  Carolina. 

CAMERON,  WILLIAM.  Cooper,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was 
banished  in  1782,  and  his  property  was  confiscated. 

CAMERON,  ALLEN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant 
of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion. 

CAMERON,  DANIEL.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant 
in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 

CAMERON,  JAMES  and  DUNCAN.  Residence  unknown.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  were  grantees  of 
city  lots. 

CAMP,  ABIATHAR,  ABIATHAR  Junior,  and  ELDAD.  Loyalists 
of  Connecticut.  Settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  received  grants  of  city  lots.  Abiathar  was  one  of 
the  fifty-five  petitioners  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  He  died 
in  New  Brunswick,  in  1841,  aged  eighty-four.  He  appears 
to  have  been  a  Recanter,  but,  like  most  of  this  class,  finally 
became  an  exile.  October  2d,  1775,  he  wrote  and  subscribed 
the  following :  — 

"I,  Abiathar  Camp,  of  New  Haven,  in  the  County  of  New 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  195 

Haven,  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  although  I  well  knew 
that  it  was  the  opinion  of  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  said 
town,  that  vessels  ought  not  to  clear  out  under  the  Restrain 
ing  Act,  which  opinion  they  had,  for  my  satisfaction,  ex 
pressed  by  a  vote  when  I  was  present ;  and  although  I  had 
assured  that  I  would  not  clear  out  my  vessel  under  said 
Restraining  Act,  did,  nevertheless,  cause  my  vessel  to  be 
cleared  out  agreeable  to  said  Restraining  Act ;  and  did,  after 
I  knew  that  the  Committee  of  Inspection  had  given  it  as 
their  opinion,  that  it  was  most  advisable  that  vessels  should 
not  clear  out  under  said  Restraining  Act,  send  my  vessel  off 
to  sea  with  such  clearance,  for  which  I  am  heartily  sorry ; 
and  now  publicly  ask  the  forgiveness  of  all  the  friends  of 
America,  and  hope  that  they  will  restore  me  to  charity. 
And  I  do  now  most  solemnly  assure  the  public,  though  I 
own  that  I  have  by  my  said  conduct  given  them  too  much 
reason  to  question  my  veracity,  that  I  will  strictly  comply 
with  the  directions,  and  fully  lend  my  utmost  assistance  to 
carry  into  execution  all  such  measures  as  the  Continential 
Congress  have  or  may  advise  to. 

"ABIATHAR  CAMP." 

CAMPBELL,  ALEXANDER.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  captain 
of  cavalry  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

CAMPBELL,  ALEXANDER  and  DUNCAN.  Of  Granville  County, 
North  Carolina.  Were  attainted  in  1779 ;  and  the  former 
in  1772  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 

CAMPBELL,  COLIN.  Settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  profession 
of  the  law.  He  died  in  New  Brunswick.  His  widow,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Bishop  Seabury,  died  at  New  York  in 
1804. 

CAMPBELL,  COLIN.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  he  re 
moved  from  New  York  to  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he 
lived  forty  years.  At  one  time,  he  was  collector  of  the  Cus 
toms  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick.  He  died  in  the  County 
of  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1834,  aged  eighty-three. 


196 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


CAMPBELL,  COLIN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  an  ensign 
in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion,  and  quartermaster  of  the 
corps,  and  subsequently  a  lieutenant ;  and  his  son,  Colin 
Campbell,  Esquire,  was  Sheriff  of  Charlotte  County,  New 
Brunswick. 

CAMPBELL,  DONALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  an  ensign 
in  the  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 

CAMPBELL,  DONALD.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  captain 
in  the  third  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

CAMPBELL,  DONALD  and  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  Were 
lieutenants  in  the  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 

CAMPBELL,  DUGALD.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  King's  American  Regiment. 

CAMPBELL,  FARQUARD.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  a  gentle^ 
man  of  wealth,  education,  and  influence,  and  regarded  as  a 
"  flaming  Whig."  Was  elected  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  took  his  seat,  and  evinced  much  zeal  in  the  popular 
cause.  When,  however,  Governor  Martin  abandoned  his 
palace  and  retreated,  first  to  Fort  Johnston,  and  thence  to  an 
armed  ship  of  the  crown,  it  was  ascertained  that  he  visited 
Campbell  at  his  residence.  And  this  circumstance  gave  rise 
to  a  suspicion  of  his  fidelity.  Soon  after,  the  Governor  asked 
Congress  to  give  his  coach  and  horses  safe  conduct  to  Camp 
bell's  house  in  the  County  of  Cumberland.  The  President  of 
Congress  submitted  the  request  to  that  body,  when  Mr.  Camp 
bell  rose  in  his  place,  and  expressed  his  surprise  that  such 
a  proposal  should  have  been  made  without  his  knowledge  and 
consent,  and  implored  that  his  Excellency's  property  might 
not  thus  be  disposed  of.  On  this  positive  disclaimer,  a  reso 
lution  was  passed,  which  not  only  acquitted  him  of  all  impro 
per  connexion  with  the  Governor,  but  asserted  his  devotion 
to  the  Whig  interests.  But  his  character  never  recovered 
from  the  shock,  and  the  belief  that  he  continued  a  secret 
correspondence  with  the  retreating  representative  of  royalty, 
was  commonly  entertained  by  his  associates.  Yet  his  votes, 
his  services  on  committees,  and  his  course  in  debate,  remained 
unchanged.  After  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  his  part 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  197 

became  too  difficult  to  act,  and  his  double  dealing  could  no 
longer  be  concealed.  In  the  fall  of  1776  he  was  seized  at  his 
own  house  while  entertaining  a  party  of  Loyalists,  and  borne 
off  for  trial.  His  name  next  appears  in  the  revolutionary  an 
nals  of  North  Carolina,  in  the  banishment  and  confiscation  act. 

CAMPBELL,  GEORGE.  Residence  unknown.  Was  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  King's  American  Regiment. 

CAMPBELL,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  major  of 
the  Second  American  Regiment. 

CAMPBELL,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  tried  in  1778  on 
the  charge  of  supplying  the  royal  troops  with  provisions, 
and  found  guilty.  For  this  offence  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
confined  at  hard  work  for  one  month.  At  a  later  time  in 
the  same  year,  he  was  ordered  by  proclamation  to  appear 
and  take  his  trial  for  treason  within  a  specified  day,  on  pain 
of  being  attainted. 

CAMPBELL,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  a  captain  in 
the  Tory  force  that  encountered  Colonel  Caswell  in  1776, 
and  was  slain. 

CAMPBELL,  MCCARTIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  His  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent,  of  its  value  in  1782. 

CAMPBELL,  PATRICK.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  captain 
in  the  second  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

CAMPBELL,  PETER.  Of  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  He  entered 
the  military  service  of  the  crown,  and  at  the  peace  was  a 
captain  in  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  had  property  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  directed  by  the  executive  council  of 
that  State  to  surrender  himself  for  trial  within  a  specified 
time,  or  stand  attainted  of  treason.  He  settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died  at  Maugerville  in  that 
Colony  in  1822,  and  was  buried  at  Fredericton. 

CAMPBELL,  WALTER.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  a 
captain  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  received  half-pay,  and  died 
at  Musquash,  New  Brunswick. 

CAMPBELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  In  1775 
the  committee  of  that  town  appointed  to  watch  and  deal  with 
17* 


198  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  disaffected,  resolved  to  send  him  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
at  Watertown,  to  be  disposed  of  as  that  body,  or  the  Com 
mander-in-chief  at  Cambridge,  should  think  proper;  "it  being 
judged  highly  improper  that  he  should  tarry  any  longer  "  at 
Worcester.  He  was  at  Boston  in  1776,  and  embarked  with 
the  royal  army  at  the  evacuation.  In  1783  he  was  at  New 
York,  and  one  of  the  fifty  petitioners  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia. 
See  Abijah  Willard.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  the  last  men 
tioned  year,  where  he  remained  in  1786,  when  he  removed  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  was  mayor  of  St.  John  twenty 
years,  and  died  in  that  city  in  1823,  aged  eighty-two.  Eliza 
beth,  his  widow,  died  in  1824,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
Agnes,  his  only  daughter,  died  at  St.  John  in  1840,  aged 
seventy-eight. 

CAMPBELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  Lost  his  estate 
under  the  confiscation  act  in  1*779. 

CAMPBELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Failing  to  appear 
and  be  tried  for  treason,  was  to  be  attainted,  by  an  order  of 
the  Council  of  October  30,  1778. 

CANBY,  JOSEPH.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  commenced  business  as  a  merchant.  In  1795  he  was  a 
member  of  the  company  of  Loyal  Artillery.  He  was  killed 
by  falling  from  a  wharf  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 

CANE,  BARNEY.  He  boasted  of  having  killed  upon  Diamond 
Island,  Lake  George,  a  gentleman  named  Hopkins,  who  was 
there  with  a  number  of  others  on  an  excursion  of  pleasure. 
"Several  were  killed  by  our  party,"  said  Cane,  "among 
whom  was  one  woman  who  had  a  sucking  child,  which  was 
not  hurt.  This  we  put  to  the  breast  of  its  dead  mother,  and 
so  we  left  it.  Hopkins  was  only  wounded,  but,  with  the  butt 
of  my  gun,  and  the  third  blow,  I  laid  him  dead." 

CANER,  HENRY,  D.  D.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1724,  and  in  1727  went  to  England  for  ordination.  For  some 
years,  subsequently,  his  ministry  was  confined  to  Norwalk 
and  Fairfield,  Connecticut;  but  in  1747  he  was  inducted  into 
office  as  rector  of  the  First  Episcopal  Church,  (King's  Chapel) 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  199 

Boston.  The  troubles  of  the  Revolution  drove  him  from  his 
flock  in  1776,  in  which  year  he  was  at  Halifax.  He  went  to 
England,  and  resided  there  until  his  death,  in  1792,  aged  nine 
ty-two.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished,  under  the  stat 
ute  of  Massachusetts  in  1778.  His  talents  were  good,  his 
manners  agreeable,  and  he  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  people. 
The  Society  of  King's  Chapel  was  formed  in  1686.  The 
church  was  of  wood.  In  1749  the  corner  stone  of  the  present 
edifice  was  laid  by  Governor  Shirley.  The  site  was  formerly 
owned,  or  a  part  of  it,  by  Johnson,  the  founder  of  Boston,  and 
his  residence  was  in  front  of  it ;  and  at  his  request  his  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  burial  ground  attached  to  it.  Beneath 
the  church  are  vaults  or  tombs,  and  in  them  lie  the  mortal 
remains  of  many  distinguished  men. 

CANFIELD, .  Of  Northampton,  Massachusetts.  He  was 

a  Whig,  and  a  soldier  in  the  first  New  Hampshire  regiment, 
but  deserted  and  joined  the  Rangers.  While  on  a  plundering 
excursion  in  1782  he  was  captured,  tried  for  his  life,  and  sen 
tenced  to  be  executed  at  Saratoga  on  the  6th  of  June  of  that 
year. 

CAPE,  BRIAN.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  officer  under  the 
crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confiscated. 

CAPEN,  HOPESTILL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year.  He  was  a  Sandemanian. 

CAPERS,  GABRIEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  officer  under 
the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated.  Probably  a  Whig  at  first ;  as  in  1775  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  was  placed  upon  an 
important  standing  committee  of  that  body.  His  wife,  and 
his  daughter  Catharine,  (wife  of  Hugh  Patterson,  Esquire,) 
died  at  Charleston  in  1808. 

CARD,  ELIJAH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

GARDEN,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  American  Volunteers. 

CARLE,  THOMAS.     Of  Duchess  County,   New  York.      He 


200  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  six  children,  in  1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

CARLISLE,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Philadelphia.  When  the  royal 
troops  took  possession  of  that  city,  he  received  a  commission 
from  Sir  William  Howe,  to  watch  and  guard  its  entrances, 
and  to  grant  passports.  For  this  offence  he  was  tried  for  his 
life  in  1778,  and  having  been  found  guilty  of  an  overt  act  of 
aiding  and  assisting  the  enemy,  was  executed.  Thomas 
McKean,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
at  that  time  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  presided  at  the 
trial.  In  1779,  and  after  his  death,  the  estate  of  Carlisle  was 
confiscated. 

CARMAN,  RICHARD.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
Sarah,  his  widow,  died  in  the  county  of  York,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1835,  aged  seventy-one.  Several  persons  of  the 
name  of  Carman,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowl 
edged  allegiance  to  Lord  Richard  and  Sir  William  Howe  in 
1776. 

CARMICHAEL,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CARNE,  SAMUEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Congratulator  of 
Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished. 

CARFENTER,  COLES,  JACOB,  ISAAC,  JAMES,  JOHN,  JOSEPH,  JOSHUA, 
and  NEHEMIAH.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknow 
ledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  Nehemiah  signed  a  Decla 
ration  of  loyalty  in  1775.  In  1778  the  house  of  Jacob  was 
entered  and  robbed  by  a  party  from  Connecticut.  Their 
leader  was  one  Carehart,  who  pretended  to  be  a  friend  of 
government,  and  who  was  treated  with  the  greatest  hospi 
tality  and  kindness  by  Carpenter  and  others  whom  he  plun 
dered. 

CARPENTER,  THOMAS.  Was  an  ensign  in  De  Lancey's  Third 
Battalion,  and  an  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees 
of  that  city.  He  received  half-pay. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  201 

CARPENTER,  WILLET.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783, 
and  died  at  St.  John  in  1833,  aged  seventy-seven. 

CARR,  PARCIFER.  Of  the  Unadilla  Settlement,  New  York. 
Was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Brant.  In  1778  the  chief 
tain  wrote  to  him  for  provisions,  men,  guns,  and  ammunition, 
and  said:  "I  mean  now  to  fight  the  cruel  rebels  as  well 
as  I  can." 

CARRINGTON,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Milford,  Connecticut.  Accom 
panied  by  his  wife,  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

CARSON,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CARSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  Went  to  England; 
was  in  London  in  1779,  and  addressed  the  king. 

CARTELYOU,  AARON.  Of  New  York.  Announced  his  inten 
tion  of  removing  to  Nova  Scotia,  July,  1783,  and  was  one 
0f  the  fifty-five  petitioners  for  grants  of  land  in  that  Colony. 
See  Abijah  Willard. 

CARTELYOU,  SIMON.  Of  New  Utrecht,  New  York.  Was 
seized  by  the  eccentric  Whig  partisan,  Captain  Marriner,  and 
carried  prisoner  to  New  Jersey,  because  he  had  been  uncivil 
to  some  Whigs  who  were  prisoners.  But  Marriner  carried  off, 
also,  his  tankard,  and  several  other  articles,  without  a  pre 
tence,  and  without  excuse. 

CARVER,  CALEB  and  MELZER.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts. 
Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  The  latter  embarked 
at  Boston  with  the  royal  army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

CARY,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year.  Ir^l775  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

CASCIS,  DANIEL.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

CASE,  ELISHA.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

CASEY,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  officer  under  the 
crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confiscated. 

CASSELS,  JAMES.   Of  Georgetown,  South  Carolina.    An  officer 


202  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

CASWELL,  JOSEPH.  Of  Massachusetts.  In  1783  he  went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  four  children. 

CATER,  STEPHEN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

CAVERLY,  PETER.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  the 
Declaration  in  1775. 

CAZNEAU,  ANDREW.  Of  Boston.  His  name  is  found  among 
the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  among  those  of 
Gage  in  1776,  and  in  the  banishment  and  proscription  act 
of  1778.  He  was  educated  to  the  bar;  was  a  barrister 
of  law  and  a  Judge  of  Admiralty ;  and  a  gentleman  of 
character,  talents,  and  virtue.  In  1775  he  went  to  England, 
but  not  remaining  long  there,  took  up  his  residence  in  Ber 
muda,  where  he  held  an  honorable  post  under  the  crown. 
He  returned  to  Boston  in  1788,  and  passed  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  his  native  land.  His  wife  was  Hannah,  the 
daughter  of  John  Hammock,  Esquire,  merchant  of  Boston,  by 
whom  he  received  a  fortune  of  eighty  thousand  dollars.  An 
only  daughter  survived  him.  In  1790  she  married  Thomas 
Brewer,  Esquire,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  who,  as  is  supposed, 
perished  about  the  year  1812;  while  on  a  voyage  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Sumatra.  The  property  of  Mr.  Caz- 
neau  escaped  the  confiscation  act,  and  was  inherited  by  Mrs. 
Brewer.  That  lady  has  been  the  mother  of  eleven  children, 
seven  of  whom  survive.  A  venerable  relic  of  the  "old  school'' 
of  manners,  respected  and  beloved,  she  still  survives  at  East- 
port,  Maine,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

CAZNEAU,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin 
son  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year.  In  1775  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

CECIL,  LEONARD.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England.  In 
July,  1779,  he  was  in  London,  and  met  with  other  Loyalists 
at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern. 

CEELY,  JOHN.     Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.    He  went  with 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  203 

the  British  Army  to   Halifax,  at   the   evacuation   of  Boston 
in  1776. 

CHACE,  AMMI  and  LEVI.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts. 
Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CHACE,  SHADE  ACH.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  De  Lancey's 
Third  Battalion.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He 
received  half-pay.  His  death  occurred  in  New  Brunswick 
about  the  year  1829. 

CHADWAL,  SAMUEL.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  Embark 
ed  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  British  army  in  1776. 

CHALMERS,  GEORGE.  Of  Maryland.  Was  a  native  of  Scot 
land,  and  was  born  in  1742.  After  receiving  an  education  at 
King's  College,  Aberdeen,  and  after  studying  law  at  Edin 
burgh,  he  emigrated  to  Maryland,  and  entered  upon  the  prac 
tice  of  his  profession.  The  revolutionary  troubles  caused  his 
return  to  England,  where  he  was  soon  appointed  to  office. 
For  many  years  he  filled  the  station  of  chief  clerk  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council.  He  died  in  England  in 
1825,  aged  eighty-two.  He  possessed  rare  opportunities  for 
the  examination  of  State-papers,  which  he  diligently  improv 
ed.  His  historical  works  were  numerous,  are  highly  esteemed, 
and  generally  cited  by  annalists.  His  Political  Annals  of  the 
United  Colonies  appeared  in  1780 ;  his  Estimate  of  the 
Strength  of  Great  Britain,  in  1782 ;  his  Opinions  on  subjects 
of  Law  and  Policy,  arising  from  American  Independence,  in 
1784 ;  his  Opinions  of  Lawyers  on  English  Jurisprudence,  in 
1814;  and  his  Life  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  in  1822.  He 
published  other  works.  In  1845,  his  Introduction  to  the 
History  of  the  Revolt  of  the  British  Colonies  was  issued  at 
Boston.  Its  publication  was  commenced  in  England  during 
the  Revolution,  but  was  abandoned,  and  the  part  printed 
suppressed.  As  Mr.  Chalmers  had  access  to  the  highest 
sources  of  information,  as  he  possessed  remarkable  indus 
try,  and  a  very  commendable  degree  of  truthfulness,  the  In 
troduction  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  valuable  addition  to  our 


204  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

books  of  history.  It  embraces  a  political  view  of  all  the 
Colonies,  and  of  the  whole  period  between  the  early  settle 
ments  in  Virginia  and  the  close  of  the  reign  of  George  the 
Second.  But  the  author's  dislike  to  New  England  was  un 
conquerable,  and  is  sometimes  manifested  at  the  expense 
of  truth  and  propriety.  His  opening  passage  is  singular, 
and  thus:  "Whether  the  famous  achievements  of  Colum 
bus  introduced  the  greatest  good  or  evil  by  discovering  a 
new  world  to  the  old,  has  in  every  succeeding  age  offered  a 
subject  for  disputation."  Perhaps  were  he  now  alive  he  might 
so  far  yield  his  prejudices  as  to  admit,  that  the  "  good  of  the 
achievement  "  greatly  predominates  over  the  "  evil."  He  was 
a  stout,  and  it  is  readily  conceded,  an  honest  Loyalist.  But 
since  he  would  have  kept  the  new  world  in  a  state  of  vassal 
age  to  the  old,  and  would  have  had  our  country  to  remain 
as  it  was  when  he  wrote  of  it,  there  need  be  no  better  refuta 
tion  of  his  political  errors,  than  can  be  found  in  contrasting 
his  own  account  of  our  condition  as  Colonies  with  our  present 
wealth,  power,  and  prosperity. 

CHALMERS,  GILBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished. 
In  1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

CHALMERS,  ISAAC.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon's  mate  of  the 
North  Carolina  Volunteers. 

CHALMERS,  JAMES.  Of  Maryland.  He  was  a  gentleman  of 
consideration  in  his  neighborhood,  and  raised  and  commanded 
a  corps  called  the  Maryland  Loyalists,  with  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant-colonel.  Though  more  successful  than  Colonel  Clifton, 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  completed  his  quota  of  recruits. 
His  corps  was  in  service  in  1782,  but  was  very  deficient  in 
numbers. 

CHALONER,  NIAYON.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
register  of  deeds  and  wills  for  King's  County.  He  died  at 
Kingston  in  that  County  in  1835. 

CHALONER,  WALTER.  Of  Rhode  Island,  and  Sheriff  of  the 
County  of  Newport.  He  was  at  New  York  in  1782,  a  deputy 
commissary  of  prisoners.  In  1783  he  was  one  of  the  fifty-five 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


205 


petitioners  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 
He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  close  of  the  con 
test,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  at  St.  John  in 
1796.  Ann,  his  widow,  died  in  1803.  Elizabeth,  his  daugh 
ter,  in  1814,  and  John,  his  son,  in  1827. 

CHALTERTON,  MICHAEL.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester,  (fee. 

CHANDLER,  COLONEL .      Of    Cumberland   County,  New 

York.  Was  Chief  Justice  of  the  County  Court.  During  the 
difficulties  between  the  Whigs  and  Loyalists  in  Cumberland 
in  1775,  which  ended  in  bloodshed,  as  is  related  in  the  notice 
of  W.  Patterson,  Esquire,  he  appears  to  have  conducted  with 
prudence,  and  to  have  used  his  exertions  to  prevent  the  melan 
choly  consequences  which  resulted  from  the  unwise  proceed 
ings  of  other  adherents  of  the  crown. 

CHANDLER,  GARDNER.  Trader,  of  Hardwick,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CHANDLER,  JOHN.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  In  1 774 
he  was  driven  from  his  seat  and  family,  and  sought  pro 
tection  at  Boston.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  royal  army 
to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  The 
late  President  D wight  spoke  of  Mr.  Chandler  and  his  family 
as  distinguished  for  talents  and  virtue. 

CHANDLER,  JOSHUA.  Of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  In  1775 
he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly.  In  August,  1782, 
he  addressed  to  Governor  William  Franklin  a  letter  in  behalf 
of  the  Loyalists  of  that  State.  The  Honorable  Joshua  Upham, 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Brunswick,  married  his 
daughter.  Mr.  Chandler  removed  to  Nova  Scotia  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  perished  in  crossing  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 
William,  son  of  Joshua,  conducted  the  royal  forces  to  New 
Haven  in  1779. 

CHANDLER,  NATHANIEL.  Died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1816. 

CHANDLER,  NATHANIEL.     Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.     Son 
of  Colonel  John  Chandler.     Graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1768 ;  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law.    He  was  one 
18 


206  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

^ 

of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  addressed  Gage  on  his 
departure  in  1775.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he 
was  proscribed  and  banished.  Entering  the  British  service, 
he  led  a  corps  of  volunteers.  Returning  after  the  Revolution, 
he  died  at  Worcester,  in  1801,  aged  fifty-one  years. 

CHANDLER,  RUFUS.  A  lawyer,  of  Worcester.  Son  of  Colonel 
John  Chandler.  Was  born  at  Worcester  in  1747,  and  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1766.  He  was  one  of  the  barristers 
and  attornies  who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 
In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  died  in  London,  October,  1823,  aged  seventy- 
six  years. 

CHANDLER,  SAMUEL,  D.  D.  An  Episcopal  clergyman  of 
New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  in  that  city  to  declare 
his  opposition  to  the  course  of  the  Whigs,  when  the  difficulties 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country  approached  to  a 
crisis ;  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  loyal 
party.  In  McFingal  he  is  alluded  to  as  "a  high  church  and 
Tory  writer."  He  went  to  England  in  1775. 
*  CHANDLER,  WILLIAM.  Was  a  captain  in  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers. 

CHANDLER,  WILLIAM.  Son  of  Colonel  John  Chandler  of 
Worcester,  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1772,  and  died  July,  1793,  at  Worcester,  aged  forty  years. 
He  was  one  of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  were 
driven  from  their  homes  to  Boston,  and  who  addressed  Gage 
on  his  departure  in  1775.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  He 
was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778,  but  returned  to  Massa 
chusetts  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

CHAPMAN,  ABRAHAM,  Junior.  Was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry 
in  the  British  Legion. 

CHAPMAN,  JOHN.  Was  a  magistrate  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  died  at  Dorchester,  in  that  Colony,  in  1833,  aged  seventy- 
two. 

CHAPMAN,  SAMUEL.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  he  was  re 
quired  by  proclamation  to  surrender  himself  and  abide  a  trial, 
on  the  charge  of  treason.  This  he  failed  to  do,  but  falling 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  207 

into  the  hands  of  the  Whigs  at  a  subsequent  period,  he  was 
tried  for  his  offences  in  1781.  Much  to  the  disappointment  of 
the  "  violent  Whigs,"  he  was  acquitted.  The  Samuel  Chap 
man  who,  in  1782,  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion,  (a  Loyalist  corps),  may  have  been  the  same. 

CHAPMAN,  THOMAS.  Was  in  the  military  service  of  the 
crown,  and  in  1782  a  captain  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment. 

CHEW,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  Recorder  of  Phil 
adelphia,  Register  of  Wills,  and  Attorney  General,  and,  finally, 
Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania.  His  course  was  doubtful  in 
the  early  part  of  the  controversy,  and  he  was  claimed  by  both 
parties.  In  1774  Washington  dined  with  him.  In  1776  his 
opposition  to  the  Whigs  was  fixed,  and  he  retired  to  private 
life.  In  1777  he  refused  to  sign  a  parole,  and  was  sent  pris 
oner  to  Fredericksburgh,  Virginia.  After  the  Revolution, 
in  1790,  he  was  appointed  President  of  the  High  Court  of 
Errors  and  Appeals,  and  held  the  office  until  the  tribunal  was 
abolished  in  1806.  He  died  in  1810,  aged  eighty-seven.  His 
father,  the  Honorable  Samuel  Chew,  was  of  the  religion  of  the 
Friends,  and  a  judge  and  physician. 

CHEW,  JOSEPH.  Of  New  London,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
commissary  in  the  royal  service,  and  in  1777  he  was  taken 
prisoner  by  a  party  of  Whigs  at  Sag  Harbor. 

CHEW,  JOSEPH.  A  magistrate  of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery, 
County.  New  York.  Signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 
In  1792  he  was  in  Canada,  an  officer  under  Sir  John  John 
son,  and  in  correspondence  with  Brant,  in  relation  to  pend 
ing  difficulties  with  the  United  States. 

CHEW,  WILLIAM.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  a  corps  of  Loy 
alists.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the  war? 
and  received  half-pay.  He  died  at  Fredericton  in  1812,  aged 
sixty-four. 

CHICK,  JOHN  and  JOHANNES.  Of  Long  Island,  New  York. 
Arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783, 
in  the  ship  Union ;  the  latter  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
two  children. 


208  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

^ 

CHIPMAN,  GEORGE.  Who  held  the  office  of  Sheriff  of  the 
same  County  for  twenty-nine  years,  died  at  Kentville,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1838,  aged  sixty-four. 

CHIPMAN,  JOHN.  He  died  in  Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia,  in 
1836,  aged  ninety-one.  He  held  the  office  of  custos  rotu- 
lorum,  for  the  County  of  King's. 

CHIPMAN,  WARD.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  born  in 
1754,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1770.  In 
1775  he  was  driven  from  his  habitation  to  Boston,  and  was 
one  of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  that  year  were 
Addressers  of  Gage.  He  left  Boston  at  the  evacuation  in 
1776,  and  went  to  Halifax,  and  thence  to  England,  where 
he  was  allowed  a  pension.  Relinquishing  his  stipend  in  less 
than  a  year,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  joined 
the  king's  troops  at  New  York.  During  the  remainder  of 
the  war,  he  was  employed  in  the  military  department  and 
Court  of  Admiralty.  In  1782  he  held  the  office  of  Deputy 
Muster  Master  General  of  the  Loyalist  forces.  In  1783  he 
was  one  of  the  fifty-five,  who  petitioned  for  extensive  grants 
of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard.  Removing 
to  New  Brunswick,  he  attained  the  highest  honors.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  Advocate  General,  Solicitor 
General,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  member  of  the 
Council,  and  President  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Colony. 
He  died  at  Fredericton,  the  capital,  in  1824.  His  remains 
were  taken  to  St.  John,  where  a  tablet  recites  his  public  ser 
vices.  The  wife  of  the  Honorable  William  Gray,  of  Boston, 
was  his  sister.  His  son,  and  only  child,  the  Honorable  Ward 
Chipman,  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1805,  and  is 
now  Chief  Justice  of  New  Brunswick ;  he  resides  at  St.  John, 
possesses  a  large  estate,  and  has  no  children. 

CHIPMAN,  WILLIAM  ALLEN.  Died  at  Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia, 
in  1845,  aged  eighty-nine.  He  lived  with  his  wife  sixty-eight 
years;  she  and  numerous  descendants  survived  him. 

CHISHOLM,  ALEXANDER  and  W.  Of  South  Carolina.  Were 
amerced  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  their  estates  in 
1782.  Another  Alexander  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Royal 
Garrison  Battalion  the  same  year. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  209 

f 

CHRISTIE,  CN.  Of  Maryland.  He  adhered  to  the  royal 
army,  and  his  estate  was  confiscated.  But  the  act  did  not 
apply  to  his  debts ;  since,  after  the  Revolution,  he  recovered 
of  Colonel  Richard  Graves  of  that  State  upwards  of  £1200 
sterling  for  a  debt  due  him  before  the  war. 

CHRISTIE,  JAMES,  Junior.  Merchant,  of  Baltimore.  In  July, 
1775,  the  Committee  of  that  city  published  him  "  as  an  enemy 
to  his  country,"  for  sentiments  contained  in  a  letter  written 
by  him  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Gabriel  Christie  of  the  British 
army,  which  letter  had  been  intercepted  and  laid  before  them. 
Regarding  "  his  crime  of  a  dangerous  and  atrocious  nature," 
the  Committee  determined  to  consult  their  delegates  at  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  meantime  to  keep  a  guard  at  his 
house  to  prevent  his  escape ;  he  to  pay  the  expense  thereof, 
"each  man  five  shillings  for  each  twenty-four  hours,  and 
the  officers  seven  shillings  and  sixpence."  This  Committee 
was  large,  and  on  this  occasion  thirty-four  members  were 
present;  the  vote  against  Christie  was  unanimous.  He  had 
recently  lost  his  wife,  and  was  at  this  time  sick  and  con 
fined  to  his  bed. 

CHRISTIE,  THOMAS.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

CHRYSTAL,  JOHN.  Was  surgeon  of  the  Pennsylvania  Loy 
alists. 

CHUBB,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Bruswickj  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  In 
1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  Company. 
He  died  in  1822,  aged  sixty-nine.  His  son,  Henry  Chubb, 
Esquire,  is  the  proprietor  of  the  St.  John  Courier. 

CHURCH,  DOCTOR  BENJAMIN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Proscribed 
and  banished.  He  was  equally  distinguished  as  a  scholar, 
physician,  poet  and  politician,  and  among  the  Whigs  he  stood 
as  prominent,  and  was  as  active  and  as  popular,  as  either  War 
ren,  Hancock,  or  Samuel  Adams.  He  was  educated  at  Har 
vard  University,  and  graduated  in  1754.  About  1768  he  built 
an  elegant  house  at  Raynham,  which  occasioned  pecuniary 
embarrassments,  and  it  has  been  conjectured  that  his  diffi- 
18* 


210  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

culties  from  this  source  caused  his  defection  from  the  Whig 
cause.  However  this  may  be,  he  was  regarded  as  a  traitor, 
having  been  suspected  of  communicating  intelligence  to  Gov 
ernor  Gage,  and  of  receiving  a  reward  in  money  therefor. 
His  crime  was  subsequently  proved,  Washington  presiding, 
when  he  was  convicted  of  holding  a  criminal  correspondence 
with  the  enemy.  After  his  trial  by  a  court  martial,  he  was 
examined  before  the  Provincial  Congress,  of  which  body  he 
was  a  member,  and  though  he  made  an  ingenious  and  able 
defence,  was  expelled.  In  1776  he  was  allowed  to  depart 
the  country;  and  embarked  for  the  West  Indies.  He  was 
never  heard  of  after,  and  doubtless  he  and  all  with  him 
perished. 

CLAREY,  DANIEL.  Of  Ninety-Six,  South  Carolina.  An  officer 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

CLARK,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year. 

CLARK,  JAMES.  Of  Edisto,  South  Carolina.  His  estate  was 
amerced  in  1782. 

CLARK,  JAMES.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that 
city.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1820,  aged  ninety.  His  son 
James  died  at  the  same  place  in  1803,  at  the  age  of  forty-one. 

CLARK,  JOHN.  This  gentleman  is  now  living  (August,  1846,) 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  arrived  at  that  city  on 
the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  1783,  at  which  time  only  two  log 
huts  had  been  erected  on  its  site.  He  received  the  same  year 
the  grant  of  the  lot  on  which  he  has  since  resided.  The 
government  gave  him,  and  every  other  grantee,  five  hundred 
feet  of  very  ordinary  boards  towards  covering  their  buildings. 
City  lots  sold  in  1783  from  two  to  twenty  dollars.  He 
bought  one  for  the  price  of  executing  the  deed  of  conveyance, 
and  "a  treat."  Mr.  Clark  was  clerk  of  Trinity  Church  up 
wards  of  thirty  years. 

CLARK,  JOHN  and  ISAAC.  Of  Boston.  Physicians.  Were 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  211 

CLARK,  JONATHAN.  Of  Boston.  A  son  of  Richard  Clark. 
Went  to  England,  but  came  to  Canada  after  the  Revolution. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CLARK,  JOSEPH.  A  Physician,  of  Stratford,  Connecticut.  In 
1776  he  fled  to  the  British  army.  His  wife  and  children, 
whom  he  left  at  home,  were  sent  to  New  York,  where  he 
joined  them.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick,  accompanied  by 
his  family,  consisting  of  nine  persons,  in  1783.  and*  resumed 
the  practice  of  medicine.  He  settled  at  Maugerville  on  the 
river  St.  John,  and  was  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  the  County  of  Sunbury..  In  1799  he  visited  his 
friends  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  physician  in  business 
for  quite  half  a  century.  He  died  at  Maugerville  in  1813, 
aged  seventy-nine,  and  his  widow,  Isabella  Elisabeth,  died 
the  same  year,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one. 

CLARK,  JOSEPH.  Of  Stratford,  Connecticut.  Son  of  Doctor 
Joseph  Clark.  He  accompanied  the  family  to  New  Brunswick, 
and  became  a  resident  of  the  Colony.  He  died  in  New  York, 
while  on  a  visit  to  some  friends,  in  1828,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
five. 

CLARK,  NEHEMIAH.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  a  sur 
geon  in  the  king's  service.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 
He  received  half-pay.  He  died  at  Douglas,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1825,  aged  eighty-six. 

CLARK,  SAMUEL.  Of  New  Jersey.  In  1780  he  was  detected 
in  conducting  an  illicit  trade  with  the  royal  forces,  and  com 
mitted  to  prison.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  was  the  grantee 
of  a  lot  in  the  city  of  St.  John,  in  1783,  and  died  in  1804. 

CLARK.  WILLIAM.  Of  Danvers,  Massachusetts.  Son  of  Rev 
erend  Peter  Clark.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1759,  and  was  Episcopal  minister  of  Quincy  for  several  years. 
He  went  to  England,  obtained  a  pension,  and  died  November, 
1815. 

CLARKE,  ALEXANDER.  Died  at  Waterborough,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1825,  aged  eighty-two.  For  several  years,  he  was 
master  armorer  in  the  ordnance  department  at  St.  John. 


212  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

CLARKE,  ISAAC.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CLARKE,  ISAAC  WINSLOW.  Of  Boston.  He  became  Commis 
sary  General  of  Lower  Canada,  and  died  in  that  Colony  in 
1822,  after  he  had  embarked  for  England.  His  daughter 
Susan  married  Charles  Richard  Ogden,  Esq.,  Solicitor-General 
of  Lower  Canada,  in  1829. 

CLARK!,  JAMES.  Residence  unknown.  A  petitioner  for 
lands  in  Nova  Scotia,  July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

CLARKE,  JOHN.  Died  at  Windsor,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1825, 
aged  eighty-four. 

CLARKE,  RICHARD.  Merchant  of  Boston.  He  was  a  gradu 
ate  of  Harvard  University.  His  name  is  found  among  the 
Addressers  of  Gage;  and  in  the  statute  of  proscription  and 
banishment.  He  and  his  sons  were  consignees  of  a  part  of 
the  tea  destroyed  in  Boston  by  the  celebrated  tea-party.  .The 
Whigs  treated  him  with  much  severity,  and  his  son  Isaac, 
while  at  Plymouth  for  the  collection  of  some  debts,  was  as 
saulted  by  a  mob,  and  fled  at  midnight.  He  went  to  England 
in  1775,  and  died  there  in  1795.  The  present  Lord  Chancel 
lor  Lyndhurst  is  a  grandson. 

CLARKE,  RICHARD  SAMUEL.  The  tablet  which  covers  his  re 
mains,  records  that  he  was  minister  of  New  Milford,  Connect 
icut,  nineteen  years,  of  Gagetown,  New  Brunswick,  twenty- 
five  years,  and  of  St.  Stephen,  New  Brunswick,  thirteen 
years ;  in  all,  an  Episcopal  clergyman  for  fifty-seven  years. 
He  was  the  first  Rector  of  the  Church  at  St.  Stephen,  and  the 
oldest  Missionary  in  the  present  British  Colonies.  He  was 
much  beloved  by  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  his  memory  is 
still  cherished.  He  died  at  St.  Stephen,  October,  6,  1824, 
aged  eighty-seven.  His  wife  Rebecca  died  at  the  same  place, 
May  7,  1816,  aged  sixty-nine.  His  only  surviving  daughter 
Mary  Ann,  who  was  born  in  Connecticut  before  his  removal, 
and  who  was  never  married,  died  at  Gagetown.  New  Bruns 
wick,  February,  1844,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three,  highly  and 
deservedly  lamented. 

CLARKE,  WILLIAM.     He  was  born  at  North  Kingston,  Rhode 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  213 

Island.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  crown,  and  was  a  cap 
tain  in  Colonel  Whiteman's  regiment  of  Loyal  New  En  gland 
ers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  was  an 
alderman  of  St.  John.  He  died  in  that  city  in  1804. 

CLARRY,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CLAUS,  DANIEL.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  William 
Johnson,  and  served  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  Indian  de 
partment  of  Canada,  under  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel  Guy 
Johnson.  Brant,  the  celebrated  Mohawk  chief,  entertained 
towards  him  sentiments  of  decided  personal  hostility.  His 
wife  died  in  Canada  in  1801.  William  Claus,  Esq.,  Deputy 
Superintendent  General  of  Indian  Affairs,  was  his  son  ;  and 
Brant,  in  the  name  of  the  Five  Nations,  made  a  speech  of  con 
dolence  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Claus,  on  the  24th  of  February 
of  that  year.  William,  deeply  affected  at  the  loss  of  his 
mother,  was  not  able  to  reply,  although  he  met  the  Chiefs  in 
Council  ;  but  he  afterwards  transmitted  a  written  answer. 

CLAYTON,  SAMUEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  cornet  of  cavalry  in 
the  Queen's  Rangers. 

CLEMENT,  CAPTAIN  JOSEPH.  Of  Boston.  He  held  a  com 
mission  in  the  royal  service  during  the  war,  and  at  the  peace 
settled  in  New  Brunswick.  His  wife,  Mary,  died  at  St.  John 
in  1812. 

CLEMENTS,  PETER.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  crown, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment.  In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  received  half- 
pay.  He  removed  to  the  County  of  York,  and  was  a  magis 
trate.  He  died  at  his  residence  on  the  river  St.  John  near 
Fredericton,  in  1833,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four.  His  daughter, 
Clarissa,  died  in  1814,  aged  thirty-two.  His  daughter,  Abi 
gail  Julia,  is  the  wife  of  Charles  R.  Hatheway,  Esquire,  of 
St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick. 

CLEMINGS,  JANE.  A  "woman  of  loyal  principles."  In  1778 
she  was  taken  well  laden  with  "hard-money,"  vermilion,  and 
other  articles  for  the  Indians  on  her  way  from  Albany  to  the 
savage  tribes  of  New  York. 


214  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

CLIFTON,  -  — .  A  gentleman  of  the  Catholic  faith,  who 
resided  either  in  Delaware,  or  Maryland.  He  was  authorized 
to  raise  a  command  of  Loyalists,  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
His  success  does  not  appear  to  have  been  great,  in  inducing 
his  countrymen  to  hear  arms  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  though 
he  was  a  prominent  member  of  his  religious  communion. 

CLINCH,  PETER.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He  settled  in 
New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died  in  the 
County  of  Charlotte,  New  Brunswick. 

CLITHERELL,  DOCTOR  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Con- 
gratulator  of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780. 
In  1782  his  estate  was  confiscated.  He  was  banished. 

CLOPPER,  GARRETT.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  New 
York  Volunteers,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps.  He  went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  the  grantee  of 
a  city  lot.  He  received  half-pay,  was  Sergeant-at-arms  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  and  a  magistrate  of  York  County.  He 
died  in  New  Brunswick. 

CLOPPER,  JAMES.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  a  corps  of  Loyal 
ists,  and  at  the  close  of  the  contest  settled  in  New  Brunswick 
and  enjoyed  half-pay,  and  was  a  magistrate  of  the  County  of 
York.  He  died  at  Fredericton  in  1823,  aged  sixty-seven. 

CLOSS,  ABRAHAM.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Guides  and  Pio 
neers. 

CLOW,  CHENEY.  Husbandman,  of  Little  Creek,  Delaware. 
In  1778  he  was  required  to  surrender  himself,  or  to  suffer  the 
forfeiture  of  his  estate,  both  real  and  personal. 

CLOWES.  There  were  several  Loyalists  of  this  name  in  New 
York.  Gerardus  Clowes  was  a  captain,  and  Samuel  and  John 
were  lieutenants  in  De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion,  and,  with 
Timothy,  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace, 
and  were  grantees  of  that  city.  The  three  who  were  officers 
received  half-pay.  Samuel,  John,  and  Timothy  lived  for 
some  time  in  New  Brunswick,  but  their  fate  has  not  been 
ascertained.  Gerardus  was  a  major  of  militia  arid  a  magis 
trate,  and  resided  in  the  County  of  Sunbury ;  he  was  killed  in 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  215 

1798  by  a  fall  from  his  horse.  In  1781  a  person  of  the  name 
of  Samuel  Clowes,  who  had  been  an  Addresser  of  Governor 
Robertson,  was  appointed  clerk  and  surrogate  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York. 

COBB,  NICHOLAS.  Laborer,  of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

COCHRAN,  JAMES.  Of  New  Hampshire.  His  father  in  his 
youth,  and  about  the  year  1730,  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  town  of  Belfast,  Maine.  His  family  subsequently  re 
moved  to  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire.  He  went  to  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  where  he  closed  his  life  in  1794,  aged 
eighty-four  years. 

COCHRAN,  CAPTAIN  JOHN.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 
Son  of  James  Cochran.  Was  proscribed  and  banished.  The 
Portsmouth  Journal,  from  which  paper  I  derive  the  following, 
states  that  the  account  is  published  on  the  authority  of  his 
daughter,  who  (November,  1845,)  is  still  living  in  that  town. 
Captain  Cochran  led  a  sea-faring  life  in  his  younger  days,  and 
sailed  out  of  Portsmouth  a  number  of  years,  as  a  ship-master, 
with  brilliant  success.  A  short  period  before  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  broke  out,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
fort  in  Portsmouth  harbor.  The  day  after  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington,  he  and  his  family  were  made  prisoners  of  war  by  a 
company  of  volunteers  under  the  command  of  John  Sullivan, 
afterwards  the  distinguished  Major  General  Sullivan  of  the 
Revolution,  President  of  New  Hampshire,  &c.  Captain  Coch 
ran  and  his  family  were  generously  liberated  on  parole  of 
honor. 

Not  far  from  this  time,  Governor  J.  Went  worth  took  refuge 
in  the  fort,  and  Captain  Cochran  attended  him  to  Boston.  In 
his  absence,  the  only  occupants  of  the  fort  were  Mrs.  Cochran, 
a  man  and  a  maid  servant,  and  four  children.  At  this  time 
all  vessels  passing  out  of  the  harbor  had  to  show  their  pass  at 
the  fort.  An  English  man-of-war  one  day  came  down  the 
river,  bound  out.  Mrs.  Cochran  directed  the  man  to  hail  the 
ship.  No  respect  was  paid  to  him.  Mrs.  Cochran  then  directed 
him  to  discharge  one  of  the  cannon.  The  terrified  man  said, 


216  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

"  Ma'am  I  have  but  one  eye,  and  can't  see  the  touch-hole." 
Taking  the  match,  the  heroic  lady  applied  it  herself;  the 
frigate  immediately  hove  to,  and  showing  that  all  was  right, 
was  permitted  to  proceed.  For  this  discharge  of  duty  to  his 
Majesty's  government  she  received  a  handsome  reward. 

It  was  thought  by  some  of  the  enemies  of  Governor  Went- 
worth  that  he  was  still  secreted  at  the  fort,  after  he  had  left  for 
Boston.  A  party  one  day  entered  the  house  in  the  fort,  (the 
same  house  recently  occupied  by  Captain  Dimmick,)  and  asked 
permission  of  Mrs.  Cochran  to  search  the  rooms  for  the  Gov 
ernor.  After  looking  up  stairs  in  vain,  they  asked  for  a  light 
to  examine  the  cellar.  "  O  yes,"  said  a  little  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Cochran,  "  I  will  light  you."  She  held  the  candle  until 
they  were  in  a  part  of  the  cellar  from  which  she  well  knew 
they  could  not  retreat  without  striking  their  heads  against  low 
beams,  when  the  roguish  girl  blew  the  light  out.  As  she 
anticipated,  they  began  to  bruise  themselves,  and  they  swore 
pretty  roundly.  The  miss  from  the  stairs  in  an  elevated  tone 
cried  out,  "Have  you  got  him?"  This  arch  inquiry  only 
served  to  divide  their  curses  between  the  impediments  to  their 
progress  and  the  "little  tory." 

Captain  John  Cochran  (who  was  a  cousin,  and  not  the 
father,  as  has  been  stated,  of  Lord  Admiral  Cochran)  imme 
diately  joined  the  British  in  Boston ;  and,  as  it  was  believed, 
being  influenced  by  the  double  motive  of  gratitude  towards  a 
government  that  had  generously  noticed  and  promoted  him  to 
offices  of  honor,  trust,  and  emolument,  and  for  the  sake  of 
retaining  a  valuable  stipend  from  the  crown,  remained  with 
the  British  army  during  the  war.  It  is  due  to  his  honor  to 
state,  however,  that  he  was  never  known  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  conflict.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  lived  in  the  style  of  a  gentleman 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 

Among  the  papers  of  the  Cochran  family,  we  find  the  fol 
lowing  letter  written  from  England,  by  Governor  J.  Went- 
worth,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  to  Captain  John  Cochran.  It 
held  out  no  very  strong  inducements  for  Loyalists  to  take 
refuge  in  England. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  217 

"  Hammersmith,  May  6,  1783. 

"My  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  kind  letter  by  Captain 
Dawson,  and  render  you  many  thanks ;  be  assured  there  is 
scarce  any  object  so  near  to  me  as  your  welfare,  which  I 
should  rejoice  to  promote.  As  to  my  advice,  at  this  distance 
from  the  scene  of  action,  it  can  only  be  conjectural.  How 
ever,  as  you  ask  it,  I  can  only  say,  that  you  will  find  it 
expedient  to  remove  to,  and  settle  in  Nova  Scotia.  The 
Commander-in-chief  will  most  certainly  cause  your  pay  to  be 
issued  there ;  nor  do  I  conceive  there  is  any  probability  of  its 
being  reduced,  especially  as  Captain  Fen  ton's  is  suppressed 
here,  among  other  reasons,  as  it  is  said,  because  you  were 
paid  in  America  and  resident  there.  As  to  your  coming  here, 
or  any  other  Loyalist,  that  can  get  clams  and  potatoes  in 
America,  they  most  certainly  would  regret  making  bad  worse. 
It  would  be  needless  for  me  to  enter  into  reasons,  the  fact  is  so, 
and  you  will  do  well  to  avoid  it.  It  is  the  advice  all  our 
friends  will  be  wise  to  follow ;  hard  as  it  is,  they  that  are  fools 
enough  to  try,  will  find  it  harder  here.  I  hope  this  will  find 
you  and  your  family  in  good  health.  We  are  all  well.  Charles 
is  grown  a  stout  boy ;  we  are  obliged  for  your  kind  inquiries 
about  him.  My  destination  is  quite  uncertain ;  like  an  old 
flapped  hat  thrown  off  the  top  of  an  house,  I  am  tum 
bling  over  and  over  in  the  air,  and  God  only  knows  where 
I  shall  finally  alight  and  settle  to  rest.  It  would  give  me 
great  pleasure,  if  it  so  happens  as  to  afford  me  any  means  to 
add  to  the  comfort  of  those  I  esteem  and  regard.  Be  assured, 
my  dear  Sir.  in  that  description  you  would  have  my  early 
attention.  Pray  present  Mrs.  W.'s  and  my  compliments  to 
your  family ;  old  Mrs.  W.  also  begs  to  join  us.  Benning  has 
been  nearly  four  years  a  captain,  and  not  being  able  to  estab 
lish  his  rank  as  he  expected,  has  sold  out,  and  is  now  in  the 
country ;  so  that  we  are  all  seeking  something  to  do. 

"Adieu,  my  dear  friend,  and  always  believe  me  to  be,  with 
great  regard,  your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  WENT  WORTH." 
19 


218 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


COCK.  Loyalists  of  this  name  were  numerous  in  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  In  1776  Gabriel,  Clark,  Penn,  John, 
Daniel,  Daniel  junior,  Levi,  Benjamin,  Elijah,  Peter,  and 
Thomas,  professed  themselves  loyal  and  well  affected  subjects. 
Of  these,  the  house  of  Clark  was  robbed  of  a  considerable 
amount  in  money,  and  of  goods  to  the  value  of  £400,  in  1779. 
Others  of  the  name  were  quite  as  unfortunate.  Thus,  a  party 
of  rebels  from  Connecticut  plundered  the  dwelling  of  William 
Cock  of  goods  to  the  amount  of  £140,  in  1778 ;  and  Abraham 
Cock,  master  of  the  schooner  Five  Brothers,  was  captured 
early  in  1779. 

CODNER,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783,'  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city,  and  a  magistrate  of 
the  county.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1821,  aged  sixty-seven. 

CODNER,  WILLIAM.  Book-keeper  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

COFFERE,  LEWIS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

COFFIELD,  THOMAS.  At  the  termination  of  the  war  he  was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  North  Carolina  Regiment.  As  he  was  pre 
paring  to  leave  New  York,  the  following  advertisement  ap 
peared  in  Rivington's  paper  of  September  10,  1783. 

"  Whereas  Martha,  'wife  of  Thomas  Coffield,  lieutenant  in 
the  North  Carolina  Regiment,  is  concealed  from  him,  (sup 
posed  by  her  mother,  Melissa  Carman  of  Hempstead,)  to  keep 
her  from  going  with  her  loving  husband  to  Nova  Scotia,  or 
St.  Augustine,  the  public  are  cautioned,"  &c. 

The  "  loving"  and  bereaved  lieutenant  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  before  the  close  of  1783,  and  received  the 
grant  of  a  city  lot. 

COFFIN,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  He  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel  Coffin, 
Cashier  of  the  Customs,  and  a  brother  of  Admiral  Sir  Isaac 
Coffin,  of  the  Royal  Navy.  A  warm  and  decided  Loyalist,  he 
volunteered  to  accompany  the  royal  army  in  the  battle  of 
Breed's  or  Bunker's  Hill,  and  soon  after  obtained  a  commis 
sion.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  Orange  Rangers  in 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  219 

a  short  time,  and  effecting  an  exchange  into  the  New  York 
Volunteers,  went  with  that  corps  to  Georgia,  in  1778.  At  the 
battle  of  Savannah,  at  that  of  Hobkerk's  Hill,  and  in  the  ac 
tion  of  Cross  Creek,  near  Charleston,  and  on  various  other 
occasions,  his  conduct  won  the  admiration  of  his  superiors. 
At  the  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs,  which  he  opened  on  the  part 
of  the  king's  troops,  he  was  a  brevet  major,  and  his  gallantry 
and  good  judgment  attracted  the  notice  and  remark  of  General 
Greene,  who  commanded  the  Whig  forces.  He  retired  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the  contest,  with  the  rank  of  major, 
and  received  half-pay.  In  the  war  of  1812,  he  raised  and 
commanded  a  regiment,  which  was  disbanded  in  1815.  He 
served  in  several  civil  offices ;  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  Chief  Magistrate  of  King's  County,  and  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Council.  Of  the  latter  dignity  he  was  deprived, 
in  1828,  in  consequence  of  his  not  having  attended  the  ses 
sions  of  the  Council  for  several  previous  years.  Had  his  place 
not  been  thus  vacated,  the  government  of  the  Colony  would 
have  devolved  upon  him  as  senior  Councillor,  during  the 
absence  of  Sir  Howard  Douglas.  He  died  at  his  seat,  King's 
County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 
At  the  time  of  his  decease  he  held  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
general,  and  enjoyed  the  emoluments  of  a  half-pay  officer  of 
that  grade.  His  widow  died  at  Bath,  England,  in  1839,  aged 
seventy-four.  His  daughter,  Mary  Aston,  the  wife  of  Charles 
Richard  Ogden,  Esquire,  Solicitor-General  of  Lower  Canada, 
died  at  Montreal  in  1827.  His  daughter  Caroline  married  the 
Honorable  C.  W.  Grant,  seigneur  of  the  Barony  of  Langueull, 
Lower  Canada. 

Though  of  great  sensitiveness,  the  personal  controversies  of 
General  Coffin  were  not  numerous.  But  he  had  a  public 
dispute  with  a  high  functionary  of  New  Brunswick,  which 
was  long  and  bitter.  In  his  dealings  he  was  exact ;  yet  to 
the  poor  he  dispensed  liberally  in  charity,  and  for  persons  in 
his  neighborhood  devised  useful  and  profitable  employment. 
His  own  habits  were  extremely  active  and  industrious.  He 
was  fond  of  talking  with  citizens  of  the  United  States  of 


220  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  Revolution,  and  of  the  prominent  Whigs  of  his  native 
State.  "  Samuel  Adams  used  to  tell  me,"  said  he,  "'Coffin, 
you  must  not  leave  us ;  we  shall  have  warm  work,  and  want 
you.' '  The  battle  of  Breed's  Hill  was  regarded  by  General 
Coffin  as  the  event  which  controlled  every  thing  that  fol 
lowed.  "You  could  not  have  succeeded  without  it,"  he  fre 
quently  said  to  his  American  friends,  "  for,  something  was 
indispensable  in  the  then  state  of  parties,  to  fix  men  some 
where,  and  to  show  the  planters  at  the  south,  that  northern 
people  were  really  in  earnest,  and  could  and  would  —  fight. 
That,  that  did  the  business  for  you."  While  the  British 
claimed  and  held  Eastport,  General  Coffin  seldom  visited  it. 
He  would  sail  round  Moose  Island  —  as  he  ever  continued 
to  call  that  town  —  in  his  sloop  Liberty,  examine  the  move 
ments  on  shore  through  his  spyglass,  and,  after  gratifying  his 
curiosity,  return  to  St.  John.  After  the  surrender  to  the 
United  States,  in  1818,  he  came  to  Moose  Island  frequently. 
Notwithstanding  his  choice  of  sides  in  the  Revolution,  he 
never  lost  his  interest  in  the  "old  thirteen,"  and  he  remem 
bered  that  he  was  "  Boston  born,"  from  first  to  last.  "  I 
would  give  more  for  one  pork-barrel  made  in  Massachusetts," 
was  one  of  his  many  sayings,  "  than  for  all  that  have  been 
made  in  New  Brunswick  since  its  settlement.  Why,  sir,  I 
have  now  some  of  the  former  which  are  thirty  years  old,  but 
I  can  hardly  make  the  Province  barrels  last  through  one 
season."  In  his  person,  General  Coffin  was  tall  and  spare. 
Until  well  advanced  in  years,  he  was  remarkably  erect.  His 
countenance  indicated  a  quick  and  sensitive  nature.  His 
manners  were  easy,  social,  and  polite.  His  conversation  was 
animated  and  interesting,  frank,  and  without  reserve. 

COFFIN,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Was  Assistant  Commissary 
General  in  the  British  army,  and  died  at  Quebec  in  1837, 
aged  seventy-eight. 

COFFIN,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1744.  At  the  period  of  the  Revolution  he 
was  cashier  of  the  Customs  at  Boston.  In  1774  he  was  an 
Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  and  in  1775  of  Gage.  He  went 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  221 

to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation  in  1776,  and  in  July  of  that 
year  embarked  in  the  ship  Aston  Hall  for  England.  He  died 
in  England  before  the  peace.  Admiral  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  who, 
it  is  believed,  entered  the  British  navy  previous  to  the  revo 
lutionary  controversy,  was  his  son. 

COFFIN,  NATHANIEL,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  Son  of  Nathaniel, 
the  Cashier.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and 
a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year.  He  was  at 
New  York  in  1783,  and  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners  for 
lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard.  At  a  subsequent 
period  he  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  the 
island  of  St.  Kitt's,  and  filled  that  station  for  thirty-four  years. 
He  died  in  London  in  1831,  aged  eighty-three. 

COFFIN,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  After  the  Revolution  he 
settled  in  Upper  Canada.  In  the  war  of  1812  he  served 
against  the  United  States.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was 
adjutant-general  of  the  militia  of  Upper  Canada.  He  died  at 
Toronto  in  1846,  aged  eighty. 

COFFIN,  THOMAS  ASTON.  Of  Boston.  Son  of  William  Cof 
fin.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1772,  and  died  in 
London,  May,  1810,  aged  fifty-six  years.  He  was  private 
secretary  to  General  Carl  ton,  and  subsequently  commissary 
general  in  the  British  service.  Admiral  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  and 
Lieutenant-general  John  Coffin,  were  his  cousins. 

COFFIN.  Besides  the  above,  five  others  of  Boston  adhered 
to  the  crown.  William,  the  third,  was  a  Protester  against 
the  Whigs  in  1774.  William,  Junior,  was  an  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775,  and  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax  in 
1776.  William,  Esquire,  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in 
1774,  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished  in  1778.  I  suppose  he  returned  to  Boston ;  Mary,  the 
widow  of  William  Coffin,  Esquire,  died  in  that  town  in  1803, 
aged  seventy-six.  John,  a  distiller,  was  also  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson,  and  was  included  in  the  banishment  act. 
Jonathan  Parry,  went  to  England,  was  in  London  in  1779, 
and  addressed  the  king. 


222  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

COGGESWELL,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  in  the 
Superintendent  Department  established  at  New  York. 

GOLDEN,  ALEXANDER.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Lieutenant 
Governor  Golden.  He  was  postmaster,  and  successor  of  his 
father  in  the  office  of  Surveyor-general.  He  died  in  1774, 
aged  fifty- eight. 

GOLDEN,  CADWALLADER.  Of  New  York.  He  was  in  Scotland, 
and  came  to  America  in  1708,  and  was  a  successful  practi 
tioner  of  medicine  for  some  years.  In  1718,  Governor  Hun 
ter  having  become  his  friend,  he  settled  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  was  the  first  Surveyor-general  of  the  Colony. 
Besides  this  office,  he  filled  that  of  Master  in  Chancery ;  and, 
on  the  arrival  of  Governor  Burnet,  in  1720,  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  King's  Council.  Succeeding  to  the  Presidency 
of  the  Council,  he  administered  the  government  in  1760. 
Having  previous  to  the  last  mentioned  time  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Newburgh,  on  the  Hudson,  he  re 
tired  there  with  his  family  about  the  year  1755.  In  1761  he 
was  appointed  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New  York,  and  held 
the  commission  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  was 
repeatedly  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  consequence  of  the  death 
or  absence  of  several  of  the  governors.  While  administering 
the  government,  the  stamped  paper  came  out,  and  was  placed 
under  his  care.  A  multitude  of  several  thousand  persons  un 
der  leaders,  who  were  afterwards  conspicuous  Whigs,  assem 
bled,  and  determined  that  he  should  give  up  the  paper  to  be 
destroyed.  Unless  he  complied  with  their  wishes,  the  massa 
cre  of  himself  and  adherents  was  threatened ;  but  he  exhibited 
great  firmness,  and  prevented  them  from  accomplishing  their 
design.  Yet  the  mob  burned  his  effigy,  and  destroyed  his 
carriages  in  his  sight.  Governor  Tryon  relieved  him  from 
active  political  duty  in  1775,  and  he  retired  to  Long  Island, 
where  he  had  a  seat,  and  where  he  died  the  following  year, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-eight.  He  was  hospitable  and  social, 
and  gave  his  friends  a  cordial  welcome.  The  political 
troubles  of  his  county  caused  him  pain  and  anguish.  These 
troubles  he  long  predicted.  In  science,  Mr.  Golden  was  high- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  223 

ly  distinguished.     Botany  and  astronomy  were   favorite  pur 
suits. 

GOLDEN,  DAVID.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Cadwallader  Golden. 
His  estate  was  confiscated.  The  farm  at  Spring  Hill,  Flush 
ing,  Long  Island,  which  was  devised  to  him  by  his  father, 
is  now  the  property  of  the  Honorable  Benjamin  W.  Strong. 
He  went  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  died  there 
July  10,  1784.  He  was  fond  of  retirement,  was  much  de 
voted  to  scientific  pursuits,  and  maintained  a  correspondence 
with  the  learned  of  his  time,  both  in  Europe  and  in  Amer 
ica.  His  wife,  who  died  in  August,  1785,  was  Ann,  daughter 
of  John  Willet,  Esquire,  of  Flushing.  His  son,  Cadwallader 
D.  Golden,  of  New  York,  (a  lad  in  the  Revolution,)  was  a 
lawyer  of  great  eminence,  and  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
efficient  promoters,  in  connexion  with  De  Witt  Clinton,  of 
the  Erie  Canal,  and  other  works  of  extensive  improvement. 
He  died  at  Jersey  City,  February  7th,  1834,  universally 
lamented. 

GOLDEN,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

GOLDEN,  THOMAS.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Loyalists. 

COLE,  DAVID.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

COLE,  EBENEZER.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  magistrate  of  the 
County  of  Albany.  Early  in  1775  he  apprehended  an  attack 
upon  his  dwelling  by  the  rioters  or  rebels  of  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  kept  armed  men  ready  to  repel  them. 

COLES.  Eight  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To 
wit:  Albert,  Benjamin,  Daniel,  Jarvis,  Jordan,  Joseph,  W., 
Nathaniel.  In  1779  Albert  was  carried  prisoner  to  Connec 
ticut  by  a  party  of  Whigs,  who  took  him  from  his  house 
on  Long  Island. 

COLLET,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales  American  Volunteers. 

COLLIER,   ISAAC.      Of  Tryon,   now    Montgomery,    County, 


224  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 
I  suppose  his  house  was  plundered  and  destroyed  by  a  band 
of  Whigs  in  1778. 

COLLIM,  JOHN.  A  magistrate  of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery. 
County,  New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  firm 
adherence  to  the  crown,  and  abhorrence  of  Whig  proceedings. 

COLLINS,  DAVIS.  An  early  settler  of  St.  David,  New  Bruns 
wick.  Died  at  Tower  Hill,  August,  1837.  His  death  was 
caused  by  the  falling  of  a  tree. 

COLLINS,  THOMAS.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  major  in  the 
Loyalist  force,  defeated  by  Colonel  Caswell  in  1776.  Was 
taken  prisoner  and  confined. 

COLLUM,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

COLSTON,  JOHN.  Stocking  weaver,  of  Philadelphia.  In 
1778  the  Council  ordered  that  he  appear  and  be  tried  for 
treason,  or  stand  attainted. 

COLVILLE,  JOHN.  He  settled  at  St.  John  in  1783,  and  re 
ceived  the  grant  of  a  city  lot,  and  commenced  business  as 
a  merchant.  In  1795  he  commanded  the  company  of  Loyal 
Artillery. 

COLWELL,  EDMOND,  HERVEY,  ROBERT,  THOMAS,  and  TILLOT. 
Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance, 
October,  1776. 

COLYER,  AB.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  the 
Declaration  in  1775. 

COMB.  DENNIS.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

COMELY,  JOSEPH.  Of  the  Manor  of  Moorland,  Pennsyl 
vania.  It  was  ordered  by  the  Council  in  1778,  that,  failing 
to  appear  and  be  tried  for  treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

COMELY,  ROBERT.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783.  in  the  ship  Union.  He 
died  at  Lancaster,  New  Brunswick,  in  1838,  aged  eighty-three. 

COMMANDER,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  officer  under 
the  crown,  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 

COMPTON,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

COMPTON,  WILLIAM.  He  died  at  St.  Martin's,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1804. 

CONKAY,  ISRAEL.  Of  Rutland,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CONNER,  ABRAHAM.  Husbandman,  of  Duck  Creek,  Dela 
ware.  His  estate,  both  real  and  personal,  was  to  be  forfeited 
to  the  State,  on  his  failing  to  appear  and  abide  his  trial  for 
treason,  on  or  before  August  1st,  of  that  year. 

CONNER,  CONSTANT.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Fensible  Americans.  He  went  to  Nova  Scotia  after 
the  war,  where  he  fought  a  duel  and  killed  his  antagonist. 
He  died  at  Halifax. 

CONNER,  ISAAC.  Cooper,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware.  Required 
to  appear  and  abide  his  trial  for  treason,  or  in  failure  thereof, 
to  forfeit  both  real  and  personal  estate. 

CONOLLY,  JOHN.  He  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Penn 
sylvania,  and  was  bred  a  physician.  Before  the  Revolution 
he  lived  at  or  near  Pittsburg,  and  was  in  correspondence 
with  Washington  on  matters  of  business.  In  1770  Washing 
ton,  on  his  tour  to  Ohio,  invited  Doctor  Conolly  to  dine  with 
him,  and  said  he  was  "  a  very  sensible,  intelligent  man."  His 
difficulties  with  the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1774,  oc 
cupy  considerable  space  in  the  records  of  the  Council  of  that 
Colony.  In  the  course  of  these  difficulties,  and  while  he  was 
at  the  head  of  an  armed  party,  he  was  seized  and  imprisoned. 
It  appears  that  he  claimed  lands  under  Virginia,  at  the  falls 
of  the  Ohio,  which,  it  was  contended  by  Pennsylvania,  Lord 
Dunmore,  the  Governor  of  the  former  Colony,  had  no  right  to 
grant.  But  he  and  John  Campbell  advertised  their  intention 
of  laying  out  a  town  there,  and  invited  settlers.  They  set 
forth  the  beauties  and  advantages  of  the  location  in  glowing 
terms,  and  said,  that  "  we  may  with  certainty  affirm,  that  it 
(the  proposed  town)  will,  in  a  short  time,  be  equalled  by  few 
inland  places  on  the  American  continent." 

As  the  controversy  ripened  to  war,  Conolly  became  active 


226  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

on  the  side  of  the  crown,  and  in  1775  was  employed  by  Lord 
Dunmore,  who  authorized  him  to  raise  and  command  a  regi 
ment  of  Loyalists  and  Indians,  to  be  enlisted  in  the  western 
country  and  Canada,  and  to  be  called  the  Loyal  Foresters. 
While  on  his  way  to  execute  this  design,  he  was  taken  pris 
oner.  His  papers  having  been  sent  to  Congress,  it  was  deter 
mined  to  retain  his  person.  He  wrote  to  Washington  several 
times,  but  the  Commander-in-chief  declined  to  interfere,  and 
he  remained  a  captive  till  near  the  close  of  the  contest.  The 
Loyal  Foresters  were  in  service  in  1782,  and  probably  later. 
Always,  as  it  would  seem,  moving  in  some  doubtful  enter- 
terprise,  we  hear  of  Colonel  Conolly  soon  after  the  peace,  and 
about  the  year  1788,  at  Detroit.  At  this  time  he  and  other 
disaffected  persons  held  conferences  with  some  of  the  promi 
nent  citizens  of  the  West  as  to  the  seizure  of  New  Orleans, 
and  the  control  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  by  force. 
The  precise  plan,  and  the  degree  of  support  which  it  received, 
are  not,  perhaps,  known.  But  the  attention  of  Washington 
was  attracted  to  the  subject,  and  measures  were  taken  to  detect 
and  counteract  the  plot. 

CONROY,  WILLIAM,  Junior.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales  American  Volunteers. 

COOK,  ABIEL.  Of  Little  Compton,  Rhode  Island.  He  was 
denounced  as  "  an  enemy  to  his  country,  and  the  liberties  of 
America"  in  1775,  for  selling  sheep  to  go  on  board  of  the 
Swan,  British  ship  of  war  at  Newport.  The  Whigs  took 
the  sheep  at  Forkland  Ferry,  and  voted  to  send  them  as 
a  present  to  the  army  at  Cambridge.  Cook  confessed  the 
sale,  and  avowed  his  intention  of  repeating  the  act  every 
opportunity. 

COOK,  GEORGE  and  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Were  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton;  and  the  former  a 
Petitioner  to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  Both  were 
banished  two  years  after,  and  lost  their  estates. 

COOK,  JACOB  and  JORDAN.  In  1783  went  to  St.  John,  and 
were  grantees  of  that  city. 

COOK,  ROBERT.  Embarked  in  1776  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  227 

COOK,  THOMAS  IVIE.  In  1782  was  an  officer  of  cavalry  in 
the  Queen's  Rangers. 

COOKE,  SAMUEL.  Of  Connecticut.  He  removed  to  New 
Brunswick,  was  the  first  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at 
Fredericton,  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 
He  remained  at  Fredericton  until  his  decease.  Lydia,  his 
fifth  daughter,  died  there  in  1846,  aged  seventy-six. 

COOLEY,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

COOMBE,  THOMAS.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  con 
fined  in  that  city  for  disaffection  to  the  Whigs,  and  ordered  to 
be  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia.  In  1775  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Thomas  Coombe  was  collector  of  the  duties  on  the  tonnage  of 
vessels. 

COOMBS,  ABIJAH.  Settled  in  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  received  a  grant  of  a  city  lot. 

COOMBS,  GILBERT.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed  a  De 
claration  in  1775. 

COOMBS,  JOHN.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in 
1783,  received  half-pay,  and  died  in  that  Colony  in  1827,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-four. 

COOMBS,  MICHAEL.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  Was  a 
merchant  of  that  town;  and  during  the  Revolution  was  in 
England.  After  the  peace  he  returned,  and  died  at  Marble- 
head. 

COOMBS,  NATHANIEL.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

COONE,  JACOB,  JEREMIAH,  and  PETER.  Of  Westchester  Coun 
ty,  New  York.  Were  Protesters  against  the  Whigs  in  1775. 

COOPER,  MYLES,  D.  D.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  Eng 
land,  and  coming  to  America  in  1762,  was  elected  President  of 
King's  College,  New  York,  the  year  following.  His  political 
opinions  rendered  his  resignation  of  that  office  necessary  as 
the  revolutionary  storm  darkened,  and  in  1775  he  retired  to 
England.  He  died  at  Edinburgh  in  1785,  aged  about  fifty, 
having  previously  lived  there,  and  officiated  as  an  Episcopal 


223 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


clergyman.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  literary  distinction,  and 
published  several  works.  Four  lines  of  an  epitaph  written  by 
himself  are :  — 

"  Here  lies  a  priest  of  English  blood, 

Who,  living,  liked  whate'er  was  good ; 

Good  company,  good  wine,  good  name, 

Yet  never  hunted  after  fame." 

The  son  of  Mrs.  Washington,  by  her  first  marriage,  was  a 
pupil  of  Doctor  Cooper  at  King's  College ;  and  Washington, 
after  Mr.  Custis  left  the  institution,  late  in  1773,  expressed  the 
conviction,  that  he  had  been  under  the  care  of  "  a  gentleman 
capable  of  instructing  him  in  every  branch  of  knowledge." 
Young  Custis,  it  appears,  abandoned  his  studies,  and  married 
against  Washington's  wish,  though  with  the  approbation  of 
his  mother  and  most  of  the  family  friends. 

COOPER,  RICHARD.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Third 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

COOPER,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  went  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  in  London,  and  signed  an  Address  to  the  king. 

COPLEY,  JOHN  SINGLETON.  Of  Boston.  An  eminent  painter, 
and  father  of  Lyndhurst,  late  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  England. 
He  was  born  in  Boston  in  1738,  and  going  to  England  early 
in  the  controversy,  rose  to  eminent  fame  in  his  profession. 
The  works  from  his  pencil  in  this  country,  previous  to  his  de 
parture,  are  held  in  much  repute.  His  name  is  to  be  found 
among  the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson.  He  died  in  England, 
September  25th,  1815.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Richard 
Clarke,  Esquire,  a  consignee  of  the  Boston  tea ;  and  the  wife 
of  the  late  Gardner  Greene,  Esquire,  of  that  city,  was  his 
daughter.  His  mother  was  of  the  Old  Plymouth  Colony  fami 
ly  of  Winslows,  of  whom  two  were  governors. 

CORAM,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CORBET,  EDWARD.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  in  London 
in  July,  1779. 

CORBETT,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


229 


COREE,  GIDEON.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

CORNELL,  SAMUEL.  Of  Newbern.  A  member  of  the  Coun 
cil  of  North  Carolina.  In  1775  he  was  present  in  Council, 
and  concurred  in  the  opinion,  that  Whig  meetings  were  ob 
jects  of  the  highest  detestation,  and  gave  his  advice  to  Gov 
ernor  Martin  to  issue  his  proclamation  to  inhibit  and  forbid 
them.  Before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  he  went  to 
Europe,  but  left  his  family  at  Newbern.  During  the  war  he 
returned  to  New  York,  and  went  to  Newbern  in  a  flag  of 
truce,  but  was  forbidden  to  land,  unless  he  would  take  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  State  under  its  Whig  rulers.  This  he  re 
fused  to  do.  While  on  board  of  the  vessel  in  the  harbor,  he 
conveyed  his  estate  to  his  children  by  several  deeds  of  gift, 
and  duly  proved  and  registered  the  conveyances.  Having 
thus  arranged  his  affairs,  he  removed  his  family,  by  permission 
of  the  executive  of  the  State,  to  New  York.  Subsequently 
this  property  was  confiscated  and  sold.  A  Mr.  Single  ton ''be 
came  the  purchaser  of  a  part  of  it,  and  the  portion  which  Mr. 
Cornell  had  given  to  one  of  his  daughters.  This  lady  claimed 
to  hold  under  her  father's  deed,  and  instituted  a  suit  to  eject 
Singleton ;  but  on  a  hearing  and  trial,  the  confiscation  act  was 
held  to  be  valid,  and  judgment  was  given  against  her.  This 
case,  of  course,  determined  that  all  the  deeds  of  gift  were  void. 
The  conveyances  were  made,  it  will  be  recollected,  prior  to 
the  passage  of  the  confiscation  act  of  North  Carolina. 

CORNELL.  Thirteen  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Gilbert,  Oliver,  Charles,  Samuel,  Mott,  Samuel,  Charles,  Caleb, 
Baruch,  Comfort,  Sylvester,  William,  and  Thomas. 

CORNELL,  CAPTAIN  CHARLES.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Governor 
Robertson  in  1780. 

CORNISH,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Colonel  Sterling. 

CORNISH,  JOHN.  Was  quartermaster  of  the  King's  Rangers, 
Carolina. 

20 


230 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


CORNWALL,  or  CORNELL,  BENJAMIN  and  ELIJAH.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Were  in  arms  against  the  Whigs.  Dur 
ing  the  war,  the  house  of  Cornelius  Cornwall  was  robbed  of 
money. 

CORNWALL,  DANIEL.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant 
of  cavalry  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

CORNWALL,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  in  1775. 

CORNWALL,  THOMAS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  captain 
in  the  King's  American  Regiment. 

CORNWALL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Was  a  loyal 
Declarator. 

CORNWALL.  Nine  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance  to  Lord  Richard  and 
General  William  Howe,  in  a  Representation  and  Petition, 
October,  1776.  To  wit :  Charles,  James,  Obadiah,  Cornelius, 
John,  W.,  George,  Daniel,  and  Stephen,  Junior. 

COSKEL,  THOMAS.  A  Whig  soldier.  In  1778  he  was  tried 
on  a  charge  of  attempting  to  desert  to  the  royal  side ;  and, 
confessing  his  guilt,  was  sentenced  to  receive  one  hundred 
lashes. 

COSSTELL,  CHARLES  M.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  an  Assis 
tant  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Colony.  He  went 
to  England. 

GOTTEN,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

COTTON,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1747,  and  became  Deputy  Secretary  of  Massa 
chusetts.  In  1774  he  was  a  Protester  against  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  Whigs  in  town  meeting  of  June  of  that  year. 

COUCH,  STEPHEN.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

COUGLE,  JAMES.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  a  captain  in  the 
First  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  went  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the  contest,  and  died  at  Sussex 
Vale  in  1819,  aged  seventy-three. 

COULBOURNE,  CHARLES.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal 
American  Regiment,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  231 

COULSON,  JOHN.  Of  Anson  County,  North  Carolina.  A 
person  of  considerable  influence.  In  August,  1775,  his  con 
duct  became  the  subject  of  inquiry  in  the  Provincial  Con 
gress,  and  a  numerous  committee  was  appointed  to  report 
upon  his  offences.  To  submit  and  confess,  or  go  to  prison, 
was  Coul son's  only  course,  and  he  accordingly  made  a  full 
and  penitent  acknowledgment  for  his  past  guilt,  and  ample 
promises  for  the  future. 

COULSON,  THOMAS.  Merchant  and  ship-owner,  of  Falmouth, 
now  Portland,  Maine.  The  difficulties  with  him  caused  the 
burning  of  that  town  by  the  miscreant  Mowatt,  in  1775.  It 
appears,  that,  contrary  to  the  agreement  of  the  Association 
as  to  importation  of  merchandise,  a  ship  arrived  at  Falmouth 
with  the  sails  and  rigging  for  a  ship  which  he  was  fitting 
for  sea.  These  articles,  it  was  determined  by  the  Whigs, 
should  be  returned  to  England,  together  with  some  goods 
brought  in  the  same  vessel.  Coulson  resolved  otherwise.  A 
quarrel  ensued,  which  continued  for  several  weeks.  The 
Canseau  sloop  of  war  arrived  for  the  protection  of  him 
self  and  property,  and  mobs  and  tumults,  and  conflagration, 
were  the  final  results. 

COURTNEY,  THOMAS.  Tailor,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He 
went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

COURTONGUE,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

COVERT,  ABRAHAM.  He  died  at  Maugerville,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1824,  aged  seventy-nine.  His  widow,  Phebe,  died 
at  the  same  place  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 

COVERT.  Five  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To 
wit:  Isaac,  Johannes,  Teunis,  Teunis  junior,  and  Walter. 
Tennis,  and  Teunis  junior,  signed  a  Declaration  in  1775,  as 
did  Richard  Covert,  of  the  same  county. 

COWPER,  BASIL.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Congratulator  of 
Cornwallis  on  his  victory  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished. 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

COWPER.  A  clergyman  of  this  name,  of  South  Carolina, 
refused  to  take  an  oath  prescribed  by  the  Whigs  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war,  and  abandoned  the  country. 

Cox,  DANIEL.  Of  New  Jersey.  Was  a  member  of  His 
Majesty's  Council  in  New  Jersey.  Through  his  agency, 
principally,  it  is  believed  that  the  Board  of  Refugees,  con 
sisting  of  delegates  from  the  Loyalists  of  the  Colonies,  was 
established  at  New  York  in  1779.  Of  this  board,  he  was 
the  president;  and  Christopher  Sower,  an  highly  influential 
Loyalist  of  Pennsylvania,  in  a  letter  of  December  5th,  1779, 
wrote  as  follows:  "The  Deputies  of  the  Refugees  from  the 
different  provinces  meet  once  a  week.  Daniel  Cox,  Esquire, 
was  appointed  to  the  chair,  to  deprive  him  of  the  opportunity 
of  speaking,  as  he  has  the  gift  of  saying  little  with  many 
words." 

Cox,  EDWARD.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778. 

Cox,  FRANCIS.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Mansfield,  and 
deserted  from  the  camp  at  Cambridge,  in  June,  1775,  and 
left  the  service.  General  Ward  submitted  to  the  Provincial 
Congress,  the  propriety  of  making  him  a  public  example,  for, 
besides  his  own  desertion,  he  incited  his  men  to  follow  his 
example. 

Cox,  GEORGE.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  a  lieu 
tenant  in  the  King's  American  Regiment. 

Cox,  JOHN.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Was  the  son  of  John 
Cox,  of  that  town,  and  married  Sarah  Proctor  in  1739,  and 
by  her  and  two  other  wives  had  a  family  of  twenty  chil 
dren.  He  was  a  shipmaster.  During  the  war  he  abandoned 
the  country  and  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  died. 

Cox,  LEMUEL.  Of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Near  the  close 
of  the  year  1775,  he  was  in  prison  at  Ipswich  for  his  attach 
ment  to  the  cause  of  the  crown.  Mr.  Felt,  in  his  very  in 
teresting  work,  the  "Annals  of  Salem,"  supposes  this  Lemuel 
Cox  to  have  been  the  chief  architect  of  Essex  Bridge  in 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  233 

1788,  and  who,  subsequently,  constructed  bridges  in  England 
and  Ireland.  "In  1796,"  says  Mr.  Felt,  "he  had  a  grant  of 
1000  acres  of  land  in  Maine  from  our  Legislature,  for  being 
the  first  inventor  of  a  machine  to  cut  card-wire,  the  first 
projector  of  a  powder-mill  in  Massachusetts,  the  first  sugges- 
tor  of  employing  prisoners  on  Castle  Island,  to  make  nails, 
and  for  various  other  discoveries  in  mechanical  arts." 

COY,  AMASA.  Of  Connecticut.  He  went  to  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783.  He  died  at  Fredericton  in  1838,  aged  eighty- 
one. 

COZENS,  DANIEL.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

CRABB,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

CRAIG,  GEORGE.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

CRAIG,  JAMES.  Of  Oakham,  Massachusetts.  Was  proscrib 
ed  and  banished.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1782,  and  received  a  grant  of  land ;  as  did  also  Robert 
Craig. 

CRANE,  JONATHAN.  Settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  a  ma 
gistrate.  His  widow,  Rebecca,  died  in  Horton,  Nova  Scotia, 
in  1841,  aged  eighty-eight. 

CRANNELL,  BARTHOLOMEW.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  pub 
lic  notary  in  the  city,  in  1782.  The  year  following  he 
announced  his  intention  of  removing  to  Nova  Scotia,  and 
was  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners  for  lands  in  that  Colony. 
He  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  before  the  close 
of  1783,  and  received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot.  He  com 
menced  business  as  a  merchant.  In  1785  he  was  Clerk  of 
the  Common  Council. 

CRAWFORD,  JOHN,  JOHN  Junior,  and  WILLIAM.  Settled  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  received  grants  of  city 
lots  from  the  crown. 

CREIGHTON,  JAMES.     In  1782  he  was  secretary  of  the  police 
department  of  Long  Island,  New  York. 
20* 


234  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

CROMWELL,  JOSIAH.  He  died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1803. 

CRONIN,  JEREMIAH.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  went  to  Eng 
land,  and  in  July,  1779,  signed  an  Address  to  the  king. 

CROOKSHANK,  GEORGE.  He  died  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1797,  aged  sixty-five. 

CROWELL,  JOSEPH.  Was  a  captain  in  the  First  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
received  half-pay,  and  died  at  Carlton  in  that  Colony. 

CROWFOOT,  DAVID.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member 
of  the  Association. 

CROSS,  WILLIAM.  He  went  from  New  York  to  Nova  Scotia, 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  died  at  Annapolis  Royal,  in  1834, 
aged  eighty-three. 

CROSSING,  WILLIAM.  Of  Rhode  Island.  A  noted  marauder 
and  robber.  He  plundered  women  of  their  jewelry  and  fancy 
articles  of  dress. 

CUDNEY,  HEZEKIAH.  Of  Westchester,  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

CRUGER,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  In  1775  he  was  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  during  the  recess  that  year, 
with  thirteen  other  members  of  the  ministerial  party,  address 
ed  a  letter  to  General  Gage  on  the  alarming  state  of  public 
affairs.  This  communication  is  dated  May  5th,  on  which 
day  two  members  of  the  Council  of  New  York  sailed  for 
England.  When,  in  1769,  he  was  elected  to  the  Assembly, 
the  success  of  his  party  was  deemed  a  victory  of  the  Epis 
copalians  over  the  Presbyterians. 

CRUGER,  JOHN  HARRIS.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  considered  to  be  in  office 
in  1782.  At  that  time,  he  was  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  De 
Lancey's  First  Battalion.  His  property  was  confiscated.  At 
the  peace  he  went  to  England.  His  wife  was  De  Lancey's 
daughter. 

CULLEN,  WALTER.  Was  surgeon  of  the  Royal  Fensible 
Americans. 

CUMMINGS,  JOHN.     A  merchant,  of  Philadelphia.     Was  de- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  235 

tected  in  November,  1780,  in  prosecuting  an  illicit  trade  with 
the  royal  forces,  and  committed  to  prison. 

CUMMINGS,  THOMAS  and  SAMUEL.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Were 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778,  and  the  property  of  the 
latter  was  forfeited. 

CUNLIFF,  JOSEPH.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

CUNNABEL,  EDWARD  G.  He  died  at  Union  Point,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1838,  aged  seventy-six. 

CUNNARD,  ROBERT.  He  died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1818,  aged  sixty-nine. 

CUNNINGHAM,  ANDREW.  Of  the  District  of  Ninety-Six,  South 
Carolina.  He  held  a  commission  under  the  crown,  and  lost 
his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 

CUNNINGHAM,  ARCHIBALD.  Shopkeeper,  of  Boston.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

CUNNINGHAM,  DAVID.  Brother  of  General  Robert  Cunning 
ham.  Before  the  Revolution,  he  was  Deputy  Surveyor  of  the 
District  of  Ninety-Six.  During  the  war,  he  accepted  the  place 
of  Commissary  of  the  royal  army  at  Charleston.  He  was 
allowed  to  continue  in  the  State  at  the  peace,  and  became  a 
planter  in  Ninety-Six. 

CUNNINGHAM,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  also  a  brother 
of  General  Robert  Cunningham.  He  was  a  planter ;  but  in 
the  course  of  the  war,  removing  with  his  brothers  to  Charles 
ton,  was  a  Commissary  in  the  British  army.  In  1782  his  pro 
perty  was  confiscated.  He  was  permitted  to  reside  in  the 
State  at  the  conclusion  of  hostilities ;  and  embarking  in  com 
mercial  pursuits,  accumulated  a  large  fortune. 

CUNNINGHAM,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  an  ensign 
in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 
He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  received  half-pay,  and  died  at 
Fredericton. 

CUNNINGHAM,  PATRICK.  Of  South  Carolina.  Brother  of  Gen 
eral  Robert  Cunningham.  In  1769,  he  was  appointed  Deputy 
Surveyor  General  of  the  Colony.  After  attempting  to  effect  the 
release  of  his  brother  Robert  in  1776,  and  the  temporary  ac- 


236  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

commodation  of  affairs  that  year,  Patrick  removed  to  Charles 
ton.  In  1780  he  received  the  commission  of  Colonel,  and  the 
command  of  a  regiment.  His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1782. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  contest,  he  joined  Robert  in  a  request 
to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  State.  The  application  was 
not  successful,  and  he  went  to  Florida.  In  1785,  a  second 
petition  to  be  restored  to  his  rights  in  South  Carolina  was 
more  favorably  received ;  and  the  Legislature,  amercing  his 
estate  twelve  per  cent.,  and  imposing  some  personal  disabili 
ties  for  a  term  of  years,  annulled  the  previous  act  of  banish 
ment  and  confiscation.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Legislature,  but  his  position  was  an  unpleasant  one,  and 
after  serving  for  a  short  time  he  retired.  He  died  in  1794. 

CUNNINGHAM,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  One  of  the 
most  prominent  Loyalists  of  the  whole  South.  In  1769,  he 
settled  in  the  district  of  Ninety-Six,  and  was  soon  commis 
sioned  a  Judge.  He  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Whigs 
in  1775,  when  he  disapproved  of  their  proceedings  in  sus 
taining  the  cause  of  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  adoption  of 
the  non-importation  act.  In  the  course  of  that  year  he 
was  seized  and  imprisoned  at  Charleston.  His  brother 
Patrick  assembled  a  body  of  friends  in  order  to  effect  his 
release.  The  Whigs  despatched  Major  Williamson  with  a 
force  to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  but  Cun 
ningham's  party  being  superior,  he  was  compelled  to  retreat. 
A  truce  or  treaty  was  finally  arranged,  and  both  Whigs  and 
Loyalists  dispersed.  In  July  of  1776,  Robert  Cunningham 
was  allowed  his  freedom  without  conditions,  and  removed  to 
Charleston.  In  1780  he  was  created  a  Brigadier  General, 
and  placed  in  command  of  a  garrison  in  South  Carolina ;  but 
in  1781  was  at  the  head  of  a  force  in  the  field,  and  en 
countered  Sumpter.  His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1782. 
After  the  peace,  he  petitioned  to  be  allowed  to  continue  in 
South  Carolina.  His  request  was  refused,  and  he  removed  to 
Nassau,  New  Providence.  The  British  government  made  him 
a  liberal  allowance  for  his  losses,  and  gave  him  an  annuity. 
He  died  in  1813,  aged  seventy-four  years.  It  is  not  unlikely 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  237 

that  his  sympathies  were  with  the  Whigs  at  an  early  period  of 
the  controversy.  In  1775  the  Provincial  Congress  placed  him 
upon  the  committee  of  the  Colony,  to  carry  out  the  Conti 
nental  Association. 

CUNNINGHAM,  THOMAS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieu 
tenant  in  De  Lancey's  First  Battalion,  and  adjutant  of  the 
corps.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace, 
and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

CUNNINGHAM,  WALTER.  Of  North  Carolina.  Lost  his  pro 
perty  in  1779,  under  the  confiscation  act.  In  1782  there  was  an 
ensign  of  this  name  in  the  Second  American  Regiment,  and 
probably  the  same. 

CUNNINGHAM,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  known 
as  "  Bloody  Bill;  "  and  there  seems  no  little  evidence  to  show 
that  he  well  deserved  the  appellation.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  controversy  he  was  inclined  to  be  a  Whig,  and  indeed 
accepted  a  military  commission,  and  served  in  the  campaign 
of  1776.  Changing  sides,  he  became  an  officer  and  a  major 
in  the  service  of  the  crown,  and  was  engaged  in  many  desper 
ate  exploits,  and  hand  to  hand  fights.  In  1782  his  property 
was  confiscated.  He  retreated  to  Florida  at  the  peace. 

CUPLE,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

CURRIE,  Ross.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Pennsylvania  Loy 
alists,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He  settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick,  received  half-pay,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  profession 
of  the  law.  He  died  in  New  Brunswick. 

CURRY,  DAVID,  JOSHUA,  and  RICHARD.  Who,  it  is  believed, 
belonged  to  New  York,  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783,  and  received  grants  of  land  in  that  city. 

CURRY,  GRIFFIN.     Was  a  Protester  in  1775. 

CURRY,  JOHN.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  after  the  war, 
and  as  early  as  1792  was  senior  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Charlotte.  He  died  in  that 
County.  His  son,  Cadwallader  Curry,  Esquire,  was  for  some 
years  a  merchant  at  Eastport,  Maine,  and  subsequently  at 
Campo  Bello,  New  Brunswick. 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

CURRY,  NIEL.  In  1782  was  quartermaster  of  the  North 
Carolina  Volunteers. 

CURTIS,  CHARLES.  Of  Scituate,  Massachusetts.  Graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1765.  He  was  one  of  the  eighteen 
country  gentlemen  who  were  driven  into  Boston,  and  who 
were  Addressers  of  Gage  on  his  departure,  in  October,  1775. 
He  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  His  death  occurred 
at  New  York  previous  to  1832. 

CURTIS,  JOHN  and  JAREL.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 

CURTIS,  JOHN.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
Sterling  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  April,  1779. 

CURWEN,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1735.  He  was  in  the  commission  of  the 
peace  for  thirty  years,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revo 
lution,  a  Judge  of  Admiralty.  He  went  to  England  in  1775, 
remained  there  until  1784,  when  he  returned  to  Salem,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days,  dying  in  1802,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  While  in  exile,  he  kept  a  Journal,  which 
has  lately  been  published,  and  is  an  interesting  book ;  its 
editor,  the  accomplished  George  A.  Ward,  Esquire,  of  New 
York,  has  enriched  it  with  several  notices  of  his  relative's 
fellow  Loyalists,  and  thus  added  greatly  to  its  value.  No 
work  extant  contains  so  much  information  of  the  unhappy 
exiles  while  abroad. 

CUSHMAN  ELKANAH.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  In  1776 
he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax,  with  the  British  army. 

CUTHBERT,  JAMES.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

CUTIS,  SOLOMON.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

CUTLER,  EBENEZER.  Of  Northborough.  Massachusetts.  In 
May,  1775,  the  Northborough  Committee  of  Correspondence 
made  charges  against  him,  and  sent  him,  with  the  evidence  of 
his  misconduct,  to  General  Ward  at  Cambridge.  His  case 
was  submitted  to  Congress,  when  it  appeared  that  he  had 
spoken  "many  things  disrespectful  of  the  Continental  and 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  239 

Provincial  Congresses,"  that  he  had  "  acted  against  their  re 
solves,"  had  said  that  "  he  would  assist  Gage,"  had  called 
such  as  signed  the  town-covenant  or  non-consumption  agree 
ment,  "  damned  fools,"  &c.,  &c.  A  resolve  to  commit  him  to 
prison  was  refused  a  passage,  and  a  resolve  that  he  be  allowed 
to  join  the  British  troops  at  Boston,  was  also  lost.  But  sub 
sequently  he  was  allowed  to  go  into  that  town  "without  his 
effects."  Cutler  had  formerly  lived  at  Groton.  In  1777  he 
accompanied  the  British  army  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished.  He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  was 
protonotary  of  the  County  of  Annapolis.  He  died  at  Anna 
polis  Royal,  in  1831,  quite  aged.  Mary,  his  widow,  died  at 
the  same  place  in  1839. 

CUTLER,  ZACCHEUS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 
Two  persons  of  the  name  of  Thomas  Cutler  were  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778 ;  one  by  the  act  of  New  Hampshire,  the 
other  by  that  of  Massachusetts.  The  Thomas  of  the  latter 
belonged  to  Hatfield.  There  died  at  Gaysborough,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  183?,  Thomas  Cutler,  Esquire,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five,  who  was  a  Loyalist,  and  who  was,  undoubtedly,  one  of 
them. 

CUTTING,  LEONARD.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  New  York. 
He  graduated  at  Oxford,  England,  in  1754,  and  shortly  after 
was  appointed  a  tutor  and  a  professor  in  King's  College,  New 
York.  In  1766  he  was  settled  as  minister  of  St.  George's 
Church,  Hempstead,  New  York.  In  1776  he  signed  an 
acknowledgment  of  allegiance,  and  professed  himself  a  loyal 
and  well  affected  subject.  While  at  Hempstead,  he  preached 
occasionally  at  Huntington  and  Oyster  Bay.  He  also  taught 
a  classical  school  of  high  repute,  and  educated  several  young 
men  who  became  eminent.  In  1.784  his  pastoral  relation  at 
Hempstead  was  dissolved.  I  suppose  he  died  prior  to  1803, 
as  in  that  year  the  decease  of  his  widow  occurred  at  Phil 
adelphia. 

CUYLER,  ABRAHAM  C.  Of  Albany,  New  York.  He  was 
authorized  to  raise  a  battalion  of  six  hundred  men  for  the 


240  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

royal  service,  and  in  November,  1779,  was  recruiting  Loya. 
Refugees  at  Betts's  tavern,  Jamaica,  New  York.  He  was 
attainted,  and  his  property  confiscated.  In  1781  he  went  to 
England.  He  returned  to  America,  and  died  in  Lower  Can 
ada  in  1810.  His  son,  Cornelius,  a  major  in  the  British  ser 
vice,  died  at  Montreal  in  1807. 

DABNEY  or  DAUBENY,  DOCTOR .  Of  Salem,  Massachu 
setts.  He  went  to  England  near  the  close  of  1777,  and  died 
before  the  peace.  I  conclude  that  he  and  Nathaniel  Dabney, 
who  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  but  a  Recanter ;  and 
Nathaniel  Daubney,  who  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage,  were  one 
and  the  same. 

DALGLISH,  ANDREW.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage  in  1774.  He  went  to  England. 

DALZALL,  EDWARD.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

DANA,  SAMUEL.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1755,  and  was  ordained  minister  of  Groton,  Massachusetts,  in 
1761.  His  real  or  supposed  political  opinions  involved  him  in 
difficulties  with  his  people,  and  in  May,  1775,  he  made  a 
written  confession,  which,  at  the  moment,  was  held  to  be  satis 
factory.  In  the  hope  that  all  trouble  might  terminate,  the 
Whig  committee  of  Groton,  (of  whom  Colonel  Prescott,  who 
shortly  after  commanded  the  American  force  at  Breed's  Hill, 
was  one,)  published  a  card  to  the  effect,  that  Mr.  Dana  had 
fully  atoned  for  his  offences.  The  good  will  of  his  parishion 
ers  was,  however,  alienated,  and  separation  was  the  conse 
quence.  For  several  years  after  dissolving  his  connexion  at 
Groton,  he  had  no  steady  employment,  but  finally  commenced, 
and  continued,  the  practice  of  law.  He  died  in  1798. 

DANFORTH,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  son  of 
Reverend  John  Danforth  of  Dorchester,  and  was  educated  at 
Harvard  University.  For  several  years  he  was  President  of 
the  Council ;  was  a  Judge  of  a  Court ;  and  in  1774,  a  Manda- 
damus  Councillor.  He  died  in  1777,  aged  eighty-one.  He 
was  distinguished  for  his  love  of  natural  philosophy  and 
chemistry. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  241 

DANFORTH,  SAMUEL.  Physician,  of  Boston.  He  was  born 
in  Massachusetts  in  1740,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  Univer 
sity  in  1758.  He  pursued  his  medical  studies  with  Doctor 
Rand,  and  commenced  practice  at  Newport ;  but  finally  set 
tled  in  Boston.  For  his  political  principles  he  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  the  Whigs,  and  received  harsh  treatment  at 
their  hands.  From  1795  to  1798  he  was  President  of  the 
Medical  Society.  He  excelled  in  medicine,  but  not  in  surgery. 
He  continued  in  full  practice  until  he  was  nearly  fourscore 
years.  After  about  four  years'  confinement  to  his  house,  he 
died  at  Boston  in  1827,  aged  eighty-seven.  The  family  from 
which  he  was  descended,  occupy  a  distinguished  place  in  the 
annals  of  New  England.  He  was  a  son  of  Honorable  Samuel 
Danforth  aforenamed. 

DANFORTH,  THOMAS.  Counsellor  at  Law,  Charlestown,  Mas 
sachusetts.  Son  of  Honorable  Samuel  Danforth.  He  was 
a  graduate  of  Harvard  University ;  an  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
in  son  ;  and  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  was  the  only 
lawyer  at  Charlestown,  and  the  only  inhabitant  of  that  town 
who  sought  protection  from  the  parent  country  at  the  com 
mencement  of  serious  opposition.  He  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776.  He  died  in  London  in  1825. 

DANIEL,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DARINGTON,  JOHN.  He  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick  at  the 
peace,  and  died  in  that  Colony.  Joanna,  his  widow,  died  in 
Portland,  New  Brunswick,  in  1840,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five. 

DAVENPORT,  Captain .      He  was  a  Whig,  and  held  a 

military  commission  under  Congress,  but  "  was  found  wholly 
destitute  of  honor  and  principle. ';  His  connexions  were  re 
spectable,  and  he  possessed  the  air  and  manners  of  a  man  of 
the  world.  He  remained  at  New  York  after  the  retreat  of 
Washington  from  Long  Island,  and  until  the  city  was  occu 
pied  by  the  British  troops  ;  and  thus  became  a  voluntary  cap 
tive,  if  not  a  deserter. 

DAVIDS,  WILLIAM,  Esquire.     Of  Westchester  County,  New 
21 


242  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains,  April,  1775.  The  name 
of  David  Davids  is  to  be  found  on  the  same  paper. 

DAVIDSON,  HAMILTON.  He  died  in  York  County,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1841,  aged  ninety-two. 

DAVIDSON,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished.  In  1782  a  Loyalist  of  this  name 
was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  American  Dragoons. 

DAVIE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DAVIS,  BENJAMIN.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  was  at  New  York  in  July,  1783, 
and  a  petitioner  for  a  grant  of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  In  his 
religious  faith  Mr.  Davis  was  a  Sandemanian. 

DAVIS,  CAPTAIN  .  Of  Brimfield.  Massachusetts.  Was 

tarred  and  feathered  for  his  obnoxious  acts  and  sentiments, 
by  a  mob  at  Union,  Connecticut,  in  1774. 

DAVIS,  JAMES.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
member  of  the  Reading  Association. 

DAVIS,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  In  1775  was  sent  under 
guard  by  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  to  Wash 
ington's  camp  at  Cambridge,  charged  with  desertion  from  Fos 
ter's  company  of  Artillery,  and  with  joining  the  royal  forces. 
He  had  been  seized  at  Long  Island,  and  sent  to  Massachusetts. 

DAVIS,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  Was  a  loyal  Declarator  in  1775  ;  as  was  also  D.  Davis, 
an  attorney  at  law. 

DAVIS,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  also  a  Petitioner 
to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  was  confiscated.  He  probably  went  to 
England.  John  Davis,  an  attainted  Loyalist  was  in  London 
in  179J,  and  represented  to  the  British  Government  that  he 
had  been  unable  to  recover  several  large  debts  due  to  him  at 
the  time  of  his  banishment.  It  may  be  remarked  here,  that 
though  the  sums  of  money  due  to  Loyalists  proscribed,  were 
now  included  in  the  confiscation  acts,  the  courts  of  some  of 
the  States  were  slow  to  coerce  the  debtors. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  243 

DAVIS,  DOCTOR  LEWIS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  surgeon 
in  the  King's  Rangers.  Towards  the  close  of  1782  he  was  at 
the  Island  of  St.  John,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  where,  it  appears, 
he  designed  to  settle. 

DAVIS,  H.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant  of  cav 
alry  in  the  British  Legion  in  1782. 

DAWKINS,  GEORGE.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  he  was  a 
captain  of  cavalry  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists.  His  estate 
was  confiscated. 

DAWSON,  DAVID.  Of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  He 
joined  the  royal  army  in  Philadelphia,  and  went  with  it  to 
New  York,  and  was  employed  in  passing  counterfeit  conti 
nental  money.  He  was  detected  in  1780,  and  executed. 

DAWSON,  GEORGE.  In  1782  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers. 

DAWSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DAY,  ABRAHAM,  HENDRICK,  JOHN,  and  WILLIAM.  Went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  and 
were  grantees  of  that  city. 

DAYLEY,  JOHN  and  FRANCIS.  Embarked  with  the  royal  army 
at  Boston  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

DEALEY,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  He  and 
Locklan  Martin  were  tarred  and  feathered,  and  driven  in  a 
cart  through  the  streets  of  that  city  in  June,  1775 ;  and  Dea- 
ley  was,  besides,  compelled  to  leave  the  country,  and  go  to 
England.  The  Secret  Committee  of  Charleston,  at  that  time, 
was  composed  of  distinguished  men,  one  of  whom  was  subse 
quently  in  nomination  for  the  highest  honors,  and  there  is 
evidence  that  they  countenanced,  if  they  did  not  actually  di 
rect  the  procedure. 

DEAN,  JACOB.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  loyal  Declarator  in 
1775.  He  became  an  inhabitant  of  New  Brunswick,  and  died 
at  St.  John  in  1818,  aged  eighty. 

DEANE,  HONORABLE  SILAS.  Of  Connecticut.  Graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1758.  He  played  a  distinguished  part  among 
the  Whigs  in  the  early  part  of  the  contest,  but  his  political 


244  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

sun  went  down  in  gloom,  sorrow,  and  destitution.  He  may 
have  been  wronged.  A  member  of  the  first  Continental  Con 
gress  in  1774,  and  the  first  diplomatic  agent  to  France,  a 
brilliant  career  was  before  him.  But  while  abroad,  his  engage 
ments  and  contracts  embarrassed  Congress,  and  he  was  re 
called.  Called  to  an  account  for  his  pecuniary  transactions, 
he  did  not  dispel  suspicion  of  having  misapplied  the  public 
funds  intrusted  to  his  care.  The  delegates  of  Connecticut  in 
Congress  appear  to  have  distrusted  his  integrity  from  the  first. 
In  turn,  he  accused  Arthur  and  William  Lee,  who  were 
abroad  in  public  trusts,  as  well  as  their  brothers  in  Congress, 
of  conducting  a  secret  correspondence  with  England.  In 
1784  he  attempted  to  retrieve  his  fame,  by  an  address  to  the 
country,  but  failed.  He  now  went  to  England.  Mr.  Jay, 
who  was  in  Europe,  had  been  his  friend,  and  wished  to  aid 
him,  and  would  have  done  so,  had  he  been  able  to  remove 
the  accusations  that  had  blighted  his  hopes  and  injured  his 
character.  But  Mr.  Jay  had  heard  that  he  was  on  terms  of 
familiarity  with  Arnold,  and  "  every  American  who  gives  his 
hand  to  that  man,"  he  wrote  to  Deane,  "  in  my  opinion  pollutes 
it."  Silas  Deane  died  in  England  in  1789,  in  extreme  want 
and  misery.  I  have  said  that  he  may  have  been  wronged. 
He  may  have  been  careless  in  his  accounts,  but  not  dishonest ; 
he  may  have  been  incapable,  not  corrupt.  In  1842  his  long 
disputed  claims  were  adjusted  by  Congress,  and  a  large  sum 
was  found  to  be  due  to  his  heirs,  under  the  principles  recog 
nized  by  the  government,  and  applicable  to  all  claimants; 
hence  the  doubt,  whether  he  received  entire  justice  at  the 
hands  of  his  associates ;  a  man  driven  to  despair  is  to  be 
judged  mercifully. 

DE  BECK,  JOHN  DUDWICK.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  New  York  Volunteers. 

DEBLOIS,  GEORGE.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  An  Addresser 
of  Gage  in  1774.  He  went  to  England. 

DEBLOIS,  GILBERT.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Hali 
fax  in  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  In 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  245 

1779  he  was  in  London,  and  addressed  the  king.  A  person  of 
this  name  died  in  Boston  in  1803,  probably  the  same. 

DEBLOIS,  ISAAC.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  king,  and  a 
lieutenant.  In  1784  a  lot  in  the  city  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  was  granted  him  by  the  crown. 

DEBLOIS,  LEWIS.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  He  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage  in  1775,  and  in  1776  was  at  Halifax.  In  1778 
he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  was  in  London  in  1779, 
and  in  1784  still  in  England.  At  a  later  period  he  was  a 
merchant  in  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  in  1795  a  member 
of  the  company  of  Loyal  Artillery.  He  died  at  St.  John  in 
1802.  His  daughter,  Elizabeth  Cranston,  is  the  wife  of 
James  White,  Esquire,  the  present  (1846)  sheriff  of  the  Coun 
ty  of  St.  John. 

DECROW,  THOMAS.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

DEFOREST,  EPHRAIM.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  at  Reading.  In  the  spring 
of  1783,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  three  children,  he  went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

DEIGHTON,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DELAHOWE,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

DE  LANCEY,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  New  York  in  1769, 
and  his  success  in  obtaining  a  seat  was  regarded  as  a  triumph 
of  the  Episcopalians  over  the  Presbyterians.  When  the  Loyal 
ists  commenced  the  organization  of  military  corps,  he  accepted 
of  a  commission,  and  commanded  a  battalion  or  regiment. 
He  was  taken  prisoner  and  confined  in  the  jail  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut;  and  while  there  received  the  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Jay,  who  was  an  old  friend. 

"  SIR,  —  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  our  sentiments 
and   conduct  relative   to   the   present  contest,  the  friendship 
which  subsisted  between  us  is  not  forgotten;  nor  will  the  good 
21* 


246  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

offices  formerly  done  by  yourself  and  family  cease  to  excite 
my  gratitude.  How  far  your  situation  may  be  comfortable 
and  easy,  I  know  not ;  it  is  my  wish,  and  it  shall  be  my  en 
deavor,  that  it  be  as  much  so  as  may  be  consistent  with  the 
interest  of  the  great  cause  to  which  I  have  devoted  everything 
I  hold  dear  in  this  world.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  request 
ing  Mr.  Samuel  Broome  immediately  to  advance  you  one  hun 
dred  dollars  on  my  account.  Your  not  having  heard  from  me 
sooner  was  unavoidable.  A  line  by  the  first  opportunity  will 
oblige  me.  Be  explicit,  and  avail  yourself  without  hesitation 
of  the  friendship  which  was  entertained  as  well  as  professed 
for  you  by 

"Your  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"JOHN  JAY." 

"  Poughkeepsie,  January  2d,  1778." 

Colonel  De  Lancey  was  attainted,  and  lost  his  estate  under 
the  confiscation  act.  He  went  to  England  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  at  the  formation  of  the  Loyalist  agency  for  prosecu 
ting  claims  for  compensation,  was  appointed  agent  for  New 
York,  and  became  vice  president  of  the  board.  His  own 
losses  were  large  and  difficult  of  adjustment,  and  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  commissioners  for  some  days.  Excepting  Sir 
William  Pepperell,  Colonel  De  Lancey  appears  to  have  been 
the  most  active  member  of  the  agency ;  and  as  two  papers  on 
the  subject  of  the  Loyalists  claims  which  bear  his  signature 
contain  much  information,  and  cannot  but  interest  the  reader, 
I  insert  them  entire.  Both  were  written  in  1778.  The  first 
is  a  petition  to  Parliament,  and 

"  Humbly  sheweth,  —  That,  in  pursuance  of  four  several 
acts  of  Parliament,  passed  in  the  years  1783,  1785,  1786,  and 
1787,  for  appointing  Commissioners  to  inquire  into  the  losses 
and  services  of  all  such  persons  who  have  suffered  in  their 
rights,  properties,  and  professions,  during  the  late  unhappy 
dissensions  in  America,  in  consequence  of  their  loyalty  to  his 
Majesty,  and  attachment  to  the  British  government,  the  said 
Commissioners  have  proceeded  in  the  said  Inquiry,  and  made 
several  Reports  thereon  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  his 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  247 

Majesty's  Treasury,  as  directed  by  the  said  Acts,  statements 
whereof,  up  to  the  fifth  day  of  April,  1788,  have,  by  order, 
been  laid  before  your  Honorable  House. 

"That,  by  the  Statement  made  up  to  the  25th  day  of 
December,  1787,  the  gross  sum  of  £7,067,858,  appears  to  have 
been  claimed  for  the  loss  of  property  only,  by  two  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-four  Claimants,  of  which  number  not 
more  than  twelve  have  been  reported  to  be  fraudulent,  seven 
rejected  for  want  of  Loyalty,  and  only  two  hundred  and  fifty 
disallowed  for  want  of  sufficient  proof,  out  of  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  twenty-four  which  they  had  examined  and  reported 
upon,  whose  Claims  had  amounted  to  £  6,572,896,  as  appears 
by  their  statement  up  to  the  5th  day  of  April,  1788,  but  to 
whom  they  had  allowed  no  more  than  £1,887,548,  in  full 
compensation  thereof,  which  is  not  equal  to  one  third  of  the 
amount  of  the  said  Claims.  And  that  several  of  the  Claim 
ants  have  represented  to  your  Petitioners,  that  the  sums  al 
lowed  them  as  Compensation  have  been  much  less  than  they 
conceived  to  be  the  value  of  their  property  thus  lost;  and 
which,  in  their  opinion,  had  been  substantiated  by  the  evi 
dence  produced  before  the  said  Commissioners.  And  that  they 
apprehend  the  deductions  which  have  been  made  were  in  con 
sequence  of  some  general  principles  or  rules  adopted  by  the 
Commissioners  in  the  investigation  of  the  Claims  of  the  Loy 
alists  with  which  they  are  unacquainted,  and  which  they 
conceive  may  possibly  have  been  founded  on  mis-information 
or  mistake. 

"  Your  Petitioners  trust,  that  the  Commissioners  of  Amer 
ican  Claims  cannot  possibly  have  any  objection  to  disclose,  in 
the  present  stage  of  the  inquiry,  the  principles  and  the  rules 
which  they  have  formed  for  their  direction  in  the  liquidation 
of  Claims  on  the  justice  and  liberality  of  Parliament  to  the 
amount  of  many  millions,  and  in  an  inquiry  so  interesting  to 
the  public,  and  the  individuals  affected  by  their  decision. 

"  Your  Petitioners  therefore  pray  your  Honorable  House, 
that  the  Commissioners  of  American  Claims  be  ordered  to  lay 
before  the  House  the  General  Rules  and  Principles  which  they 


248  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

have  formed  for  their  inquiry,   and  under  which  they  have 
acted  in  the  liquidation  of  the  Claims  of  the  Loyalists. 
"!AS.  DE  LANCEY, 

"Agent  of  the  Committee." 

The  second  is  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pitt,*  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  contains  the  reasons  of  the  Loyalists,  why  no 
discrimination  or  deduction  ought  to  be  made  from  the  sums 
found  due  them  by  the  Commissioners. 

11  SIR,  — We  have  the  honor  of  submitting  to  your  consid 
eration  sundry  reasons  against  any  deductions  being  made 
from  the  sums  found  due  to  the  American  Loyalists ;  demon 
strating,  that  after  they  shall  have  received  the  full  amount, 
the  losses  they  have  sustained  will  greatly  exceed  those  of 
their  fellow  subjects  in  consequence  of  the  war.  Persuaded 
as  we  are  of  your  upright  and  liberal  intentions  towards  them, 
we  natter  ourselves  that  those  reasons  have  convinced  your 
judgment  of  the  injustice  upon  which  any  deductions  what 
ever  must  be  founded.  But  as  you  were  pleased  to  intimate 
to  our  Committee  a  possibility  that  Parliament  might,  in  the 
final  payment,  proceed  on  the  distinction  which  has  been  made 
between  the  Loyalists  who  had  borne  arms,  and  those  who 
have  not ;  we  beg  leave  to  lay  before  you  the  following  addi 
tional  reasons,  not  only  against  such  deduction,  but  against 
any  discrimination  whatever  in  the  compensation  to  be  made 
for  loss  of  property. 

"The  distinction  was  made  by  Parliament  in  an  early  stage 
of  the  inquiry,  when  no  certain  idea  could  be  formed  of  the 
whole  amount  of  the  losses,  for  the  purpose  of  affording  relief 
to  those  who  wanted  it.  But  we  cannot  suppose  that  Parlia 
ment  intended,  at  the  time,  to  adopt  it  in  the  final  administra 
tion  of  justice,  for  the  following  reasons  :  — 

"1.  It  is  a  distinction  which  never  has  been,  nor  ever  can 
be  rationally  made ;  because  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the 
numerous  and  various  degrees  of  Loyalty  produced  by  an  infi 
nite  variety  of  acts,  during  a  long  continued  rebellion ;  and 


OF  AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  249 

equally  so  to  apportion,  upon  any  principle  of  law  or  equity, 
the  sums  which  the  Loyalists  ought  to  receive  in  consequence 
thereof.  Besides,  were  this  possible,  it  would  be  fundamentally 
unjust,  because  the  Loyalist  whose  person  has  been  attainted, 
and  whose  property  has  been  confiscated,  in  consequence  of 
one  act  of  Loyalty,  has  evidently  suffered  on  the  public  ac 
count  as  much  c  injury  and  damage  '*  as  he  who  has  suffered 
in  consequence  of  ten  thousand,  and  of  course  is  equally  an 
object  of  public  protection,  and  full  compensation ;  although 
the  other  must  be  allowed  to  have  a  stronger  claim  to  gratitude 
and  reward  from  Government  for  his  services.  Hence  it  is, 
that  there  is  no  instance  to  be  found  in  the  Journals  of  Parlia 
ment,  of  any  such  discrimination.  But,  on  the  contrary,  it 
appears  from  every  case  of  a  similar  nature,  that  the  uniform 
usage  of  Parliament  has  been  to  make  full  compensation  to 
subjects  who  have  suffered  in  consequence  of  their  fidelity  to 
the  State  ;  even  where  that  fidelity  has  been  shown  by  a  dis 
charge  of  the  least  of  their  political  duties,  without  making 
any  discrimination  or  deduction  from  the  sum  found  due.  To 
this  we  will  add,  that  there  never  has  been  any  point  of  law, 
or  principle  of  justice,  more  solemnly  settled  than  what  we 
here  contend  for.  In  the  case  of  Daniel  Campbell,  who  had 
suffered  in  his  property  by  a  mob,  on  account  only  of  his 
voting  for  the  malt-tax,  all  the  branches  of  the  Legislature 
concurred  in  declaring,  ( That  as  the  losses  and  damages  he 
had  sustained,  were  on  account  of  the  concern  he  had,  or  was 
supposed  to  have  had,  in  promoting  the  act  for  laying  a  duty 
on  malt,  it  is  just  and  reasonable  that  the  said  damages  and 
losses  should  be  made  good  and  repaid,  clear  of  all  deductions.' 
Does  it  not  then  follow,  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  in  the 
case  where  the  subject  has  lost  his  property  on  account  of  his 
fidelity  to  the  State,  and  ultimately  by  an  act  of  the  State 
itself,  manifestly  done  for  its  own  security  and  preservation. 
that  he  ought  to  receive  equal  compensation  with  the  sub 
ject  who  has  suffered  for  giving  a  vote  for  an  Act  of  Parlia 
ment? 

"2.  Upon  a  little  consideration  of  his  Majesty's  Proclama- 


250  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

tion,  and  the  resolutions  of  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  it 
will  further  appear,  that  any  such  discrimination  or  deduction 
will  be  evidently  inconsistent  with,  and  derogatory  to,  because 
a  manifest  failure  in  the  performances  of,  the  royal  and  parlia 
mentary  assurances  held  out  by  them  to  the  Loyalists.  For 
by  those  assurances,  the  Royal  Faith,  and  the  Honor  of  Parli 
ament,  stand  most  solemnly  pledged  for  the  £  protection '  of, 
and  for  making  '  ample  and  full  compensation '  to,  every  Loy 
alist,  indiscriminately  who  had  been  '  aiding  and  assisting  in 
suppressing  the  rebellion,'  or  '  who,  on  account  of  a  desire 
manifested  to  assist  in  carrying  into  execution  any  Acts  of 
the  British  Legislature,  has  suffered  any  injury  or  damage ' 
whatever. 

"  3.  In  pursuance  of  his  Majesty's  Proclamation,  and  the 
resolutions  of  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  a  Commission 
has  been  instituted  for  Inquiring  into  Losses  and  Services  of 
those  who  had  c  suffered  in  consequence  of  their  Loyalty  to  his 
Majesty,  and  their  attachment  to  the  British  Government,  and 
their  obedience  to  his  Majesty's  Proclamation,'  &c.,  &c.  And 
the  Loyalists  whose  losses  have  been  inquired  into,  and  liqui 
dated  under  that  Commission,  are  clearly  included  in  the  de- , 
scription  of,  and  are  identically  the  persons  who  (by  the 
express  words  of  his  Majesty's  Proclamation,  and  the  resolu 
tions  of  the  two  Houses)  are  declared  to  be  £  entitled '  to  the 
1  protection  of  the  laws,'  and  to  full  and  '  ample  compensa 
tion.' 

"  4.  Neither  his  Majesty's  Proclamation,  nor  the  resolutions 
of  the  two  Houses,  nor  the  Statute  of  Inquiry,  nor  any  one 
Precedent  to  be  found  in  the  Journals  of  Parliament,  allude 
to,  or  even  mention,  the  degree  of  Loyalty  requisite  to  entitle 
the  subject  to  the  '  Protection  and  Compensation  '  declared  to 
be  due,  and  solemnly  promised  by  his  Majesty  and  the  two 
Houses ;  but  as  the  evident  principles  of  policy,  reason,  justice, 
and  law  required,  all  of  them  unite  in  constituting  and  estab 
lishing  '  the  having  suffered  any  injury  or  damage  in  conse 
quence  of  Loyalty,'  the  criterion  and  express  condition  upon 
which  the  c  title  '  to  protection,  and  '  ample  and  full  compen- 


t 

OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  251 

sation'  shall  be  completely  vested;  and  as  every  Loyalist, 
whose  loss  had  been  inquired  into  and  reported,  has  complied 
with  that  condition,  his  right  or  '  title  '  to  the  full  amount  of 
the  sum  found  due,  is  unequivocally  established  upon  the  said 
Proclamation  and  Resolutions.  We  therefore  .most  humbly 
trust,  that  Parliament  will  not  deviate  from  all  former  Prece 
dents,  and  from  the  principles  of  reason  and  justice  so  sol 
emnly  established,  by  making  any  deduction  whatever  from 
the  sums  found  due  to  subjects,  who  have  suffered  so  much, 
and  such  long  continued  loss  and  distress  on  the  public  ac 
count,  and  for  the  public  advantage ;  sums,  in  the  complete 
and  liberal  discharge  of  which,  the  sacred  faith  of  Majesty, 
the  inviolable  honor  of  Parliament,  the  irreproachable  char 
acter  of  the  Nation,  and  the  momentous  security  of  the  State, 
are  so  evidently  concerned. 

"  We  could,  Sir,  offer  to  your  consideration  other  arguments 
on  the  subject ;  but,  confiding  in  your  upright  sense  of  public 
justice,  and  the  benevolence  of  your  feelings  for  the  virtuous 
and  distressed,  we  will  conclude  with  requesting  that  you  will 
favor  our  Committee  with  the  promised  interview,  by  which 
alone  the  anxiety  of  our  minds  on  the  occasion  can  be  re 
lieved. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  by  the  direction,  and  on  behalf,  of 
the  Agents  for  the  American  Loyalists,  with  great  respect, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 
"JAMES  DE  LANCEY, 

"  Vice  President." 

"  Right  Honorable  William  Pitt,  &c." 

These  papers  produced  no  effect,  except  as  is  stated  in  the 
preliminary  remarks  to  this  work,  no  discrimination  was  finally 
made  between  Loyalists  of  different  degrees  of  loyalty,  merit, 
and  grades  of  service.  In  this  respect  all  were  treated  alike ; 
but  the  commissioners  were  not  required  to  revise  their  pro 
ceedings,  as  was  asked  for  in  the  address  to  Parliament ;  nor 
was  Mr.  Pitt  induced  to  change  his  purpose  of  making  certain 
rates  of  reduction  on  the  sums  reported  to  be  due  to  claimants 


252  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

by  the  commissioners,  as  was  solicited  in  the  communication  to 
him.  The  petition  and  the  letter  are,  however,  valuable  doc 
uments,  and  able  and  authorized  statements  of  the  views  of 
adherents  of  the  crown,  who  were  interested  in  the  matters  to 
which  they  relate. 

Indeed,  the  claimants  appear  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  deci 
sion  of  the  minister ;  and  the  board  of  agents,  after  Mr.  Pitt's 
plan  was  confirmed  by  an  act  of  Parliament,  presented  an 
Address  to  the  King.  Colonel  De  Lancey  affixed  his  signature 
to  this  address,  and  with  his  associates  had  an  audience  of  his 
Majesty,  and  "  had  the  honor  to  kiss  his  Majesty's  hand." 

Colonel  De  Lancey  finally  fixed  his  residence  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  in  1794  was  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  that  Colony.  He  died  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  about  the 
year  1809.  Martha,  his  widow,  died  at  the  same  place  in 
1837,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 

DE  LANCEY,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  He  was  an  officer 
in  Oliver  De  Lancey 's  Second  Battalion.  James  De  Lancey, 
Esquire,  Collector  of  his  Majesty's  Customs,  died  at  Crooked 
Island,  New  Providence,  in  1808,  and  was  perhaps  the 
same. 

DE  LANCEY,  OLIVER.  Of  New  York.  His  father,  who  was 
a  French  refugee,  was  a  gentleman  of  wealth,  and  of  the  first 
rank.  His  career  for  some  years  may  be  considered  in  con 
nexion  with  that  of  his  brother  James,  who  was  Chief  Justice 
and  Lieutenant  Governor  of  that  Colony.  James  was  a  man 
of  talents,  of  learning,  of  great  vivacity,  and  of  popular  man 
ners;  but  if  the  writers  of  the  time  are  to  be  followed,  he 
was  also  an  unprincipled  demagogue,  who  opposed  the  gov 
ernors  whom  he  could  not  rule,  and  who,  for  unworthy  pur 
poses  of  his  own,  kept  the  public  mind  in  continual  agitation. 
He  was  at  the  head  of  affairs  and  administered  the  govern 
ment  after  the  removal  of  Clinton  and  the  death  of  Osborn, 
and  a  second  time,  as  the  successor  of  Hardy.  He  died  in 
1760.  His  daughter  married  the  celebrated  Sir  William  Dra 
per.  The  party  opposed  to  his  advancement,  in  denouncing 
his  ambitious  projects,  did  not  spare  Oliver,  the  subject  of 


OF  AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  253 

this  notice.  On  some  occasions,  Oliver  seems  to  have  promoted 
his  brother's  designs,  at  the  expense  of  propriety  and  deco 
rum.  But  yet  Oliver  De  Lancey,  at  the  period  of  the  French 
war,  occupied  a  commanding  position,  and  perhaps  he  did 
not  overrate  his  personal  influence  when  he  said,  that  if  in 
the  expedition  against  Crown  Point,  he  "  should  accept  the 
command  of  the  New  York  regiment,  he  could  in  ten  days 
raise  the  whole "  quota  of  troops  allotted  to  that  Colony. 
This  standing  he  maintained  after  his  brother's  death,  and 
until  the  Revolution.  At  the  commencement  of  the  contro 
versy  he  may  not  have  been  a  zealous  adherent  of  the  crown. 
Some  of  the  Whigs  insisted,  indeed,  that  he  heartily  approv 
ed  of  the  course  of  the  ministry,  and  a  letter  appeared  in 
a  newspaper  in  England,  in  1775,  which,  if  genuine,  au 
thorized  the  opinion.  But  this  letter  he  publicly  averred  to 
be  an  infamous  and  a  malicious  forgery.  Nor  did  he  stop 
there,  for  he  submitted,  as  he  declared  upon  his  honor,  the 
whole  of  his  correspondence  with  his  friends  in  England, 
from  the  earliest  moment  of  the  dispute,  to  Mr.  Jay,  who, 
finding  nothing  objectionable,  so  stated  in  a  card  which  was 
published.  But  whatever  was  his  course  before  the  question 
of  separation  from  the  mother  country  was  discussed,  he 
opposed  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire,  and  put  his  life 
and  property  at  stake  to  prevent  it.  In  1776  he  was  appoint 
ed  a  brigadier-general  in  the  royal  service.  Skinner,  of  New 
Jersey ;  Brown,  a  former  governor  of  the  Bahamas ;  Arnold, 
the  apostate;  and  Cunningham,  of  South  Carolina,  were  of 
the  same  grade,  but  their  commissions  were  of  later  dates. 
General  De  Lancey  was,  therefore,  the  senior  Loyalist  offi 
cer  in  commission  during  the  contest.  His  command  con 
sisted  of  three  battalions,  known  as  De  Lancey's  Battalions. 
In  his  orders  for  enlistments,  he  promised  to  any  well  re 
commended  characters,  who  should  engage  a  company  of 
seventy  men,  the  disposal  of  the  commissions  of  captain, 
lieutenant,  and  ensign.  The  common  soldiers,  he  said, 
would  be  "in  British  pay."  Yet  his  success  in  filling  up 
his  battalions  was  not  flattering.  Of  the  fifteen  hundred 
22 


254  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

men  required,  only  five  hundred  and  ninety-seven  were  em 
bodied  in  the  spring  of  1777,  and  but  seven  hundred  and  seven 
a  year  later. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution,  General  De  Lancey  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Council,  and  was  considered  to  be  in  office  in  1782, 
though  a  constitution  was  formed  in  New  York  in  1777,  and 
a  government  organized  under  it.  By  this  government  he  was 
attainted  of  treason,  and  his  large  property  confiscated.  He 
went  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  a  member 
of  Parliament,  but  did  not  long  survive.  He  died  in  1785, 
aged  sixty-eight.  I  suppose  that  Van  Shaack  alludes  to  his 
decease  in  the  following  passage.  "  Our  old  friend  has  at  last 
taken  his  departure  from  Beverley,  which  he  said  should  hold 
his  bones;  he  went  off  without  pain  or  struggle,  his  body 
wasted  to  a  skeleton,  his  mind  the  same.  The  family  most 
of  them  collected  in  town  [London].  There  will  scarcely  be 
a  village  in  England  without  some  American  dust  in  it,  I 
believe,  by  the  time  we  are  all  at  rest." 

DE  LANCEY,  OLIVER,  Junior.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Oli 
ver  De  Lancey.  While  most  of  the  Loyalists  who  entered  the 
military  service  were  attached  to  Provincial  corps,  and  were  of 
course  liable  to  be  dismissed  at  the  close  of  the  war,  De  Lan 
cey  appears  to  have  obtained  a  commission  in  the  British 
army  as  early  as  1776,  at  which  period  he  was  a  captain  of 
horse.  At  a  subsequent  day  he  was  major  of  the  Seventeenth 
Regiment  of  Dragoons,  and  after  the  death  of  Andre,  adjutant 
general,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  He  continued  in 
the  army,  and  at  his  decease,  within  a  few  years,  was  barrack- 
master  general  of  the  British  empire.  His  treatment  of  Gen 
eral  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  an  estimable  Whig  of  New  York, 
who  became  his  prisoner  in  1776,  should  never  be  forgotten. 
There  seems  no  room  to  doubt,  that,  when  that  unfortunate  gen 
tleman  surrendered  his  sword  to  De  Lancey,  he  stipulated  for, 
and  was  promised,  protection  ;  but  that  his  Loyalist  country 
man  basely  struck  him,  and  permitted  his  men  to  cut  and  hack 
him  at  pleasure.  And  it  is  no  less  certain  that  the  General, 
maimed  and  wounded,  was  denied  proper  care,  attention,  and 


OF   AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  255 

accommodation,  and  that  he  perished  in  consequence  of  the 
barbarities  of  his  captors. 

DE  LANCEY,  STEPHEN.  He  entered  the  military  service  of 
the  king,  and  in  1782  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  First  Bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  At  the  peace  he  left  the 
country ;  and  subsequently  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Bahamas. 
His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Reverend  Henry  Barclay,  rector 
of  Trinity  Church,  New  York.  A  son  was  aid  to  Wellington, 
and  was  killed  at  Waterloo. 

DE  LANCEY,  WARREN.  Of  New  York.  In  1780  he  was 
commissioned  a  cornet  of  dragoons. 

BELONG,  JAMES.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
ordered  that  he  surrender  for  trial,  or  stand  attainted. 

DELUE,  JACOB.  He  died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1825,  aged  sixty-five. 

DELYON,  ISAAC.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

DE  MAYERN,  PHILIP.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers. 

DEMENT, .  Was  a  Whig  officer  of  Colonel  Magaw's 

command,  who  deserted  to  the  enemy  under  Howe,  a  short 
time  before  the  affair  of  Fort  Washington. 

DEMILE,  JOHN.     A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

DEMOTT,  ABRAHAM,  JOHN,  MICHAEL,  and  SAMUEL.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 
Michael  was  subsequently  in  the  military  service  of  the 
crown. 

DENHOLM,  GEORGE.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DENNIS,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Richland,  Pennsylvania.  In 
Council,  in  1778,  it  was  ordered,  that  failing  to  surrender  and 
be  tried  for  treason,  he  stand  attainted. 

DENNIS,  RICHARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  17SO.  He  was  banished 
in  1782,  and  his  property  was  confiscated. 

DENTON.  In  1775  Joseph  Denton,  of  Brook-haven,  New 
York,  assisted  Major  Benjamin  Floyd  in  procuring  signatures 


256  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

to  a  paper  expressive  of  a  determination  to  support  the  royal 
authority.  In  1776  Thomas,  Amos  junior,  Joseph,  Samuel, 
Isaac,  and  Amos  Denton,  of  Queen's  County,  professed  them 
selves  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William  Howe,  loyal  and 
well  affected  subjects.  In  1780,  James  Denton  of  that  County 
was  in  arms  against  the  Whigs.  The  name  of  Joseph  Denton 
is  found  among  the  Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling. 

DEONEZZAU,  ADAM.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for 
Halifax  with  the  British  army. 

DE  PEYSTER,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  York.  He  entered  the 
king's  service,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  New  York  Volun 
teers.  He  was  second  in  command  at  the  battle  of  King's 
Mountain,  in  1780,  and  after  the  fall  of  Ferguson,  hoisted  a 
flag  as  a  signal  of  surrender.  The  firing  immediately  ceased, 
and  the  royal  troops  laying  down  their  arms,  the  most  of 
which  were  loaded,  submitted  to  the  conquerors  at  discretion. 
It  seems  not  to  be  generally  understood,  that  nearly  the  whole 
of  Ferguson's  force  was  composed  of  Loyalists;  but  such  is 
the  fact.  He  went  into  action  with  eleven  hundred  and 
twenty-five  men,  of  whom  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
were  regulars.  Of  the  Loyalists,  no  less  than  two  hundred 
and  six  were  killed,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  wounded, 
and  six  hundred  and  twenty-nine  taken  prisoners.  The  loss 
of  regulars,  was  eighteen  slain,  and  one  hundred  and  three 
wounded  and  captured.  Captain  De  Peyster  was  paid  off  the 
morning  of  the  battle.  Among  the  coin  which  he  received 
was  a  doubloon,  which  he  put  in  a  pocket  of  his  vest.  While 
on  the  field,  a  bullet  struck  the  gold  and  stopped,  and  his 
life  was  thus  saved.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He 
received  half-pay.  He  Avas  treasurer  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  a  colonel  in  the  militia.  He  died  in  that  Colony  pre 
vious  to  1799,  as  in  that  year  leave  was  given  to  sell  a  part 
of  his  estate  in  the  hands  of  his  administrator. 

DE  PEYSTER,  FREDERICK.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  cap 
tain  in  the  New  York  Volunteers  in  1782.  In  1784  he  was 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  received  the  grant  of  a  city 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  257 

lot.  In  1792  he  was  a  magistrate  in  the  County  of  York. 
He  returned  to  the  United  States.  A  gentleman  of  this  name 
was  a  student  of  Peter  Van  Shaack  in  early  life,  was  much 
esteemed  by  him,  and  "one  of  his  principal  correspondents 
in  his  old  age."  This  Mr.  De  Peyster  —  and  possibly  the 
same  —  was  living  in  New  York  in  1S28. 

DERICKSON,  CAPTAIN  JACOB.  Of  Brandywine,  Delaware.  In 
1778  he  was  required  by  law  to  surrender  himself  within  a 
specified  time,  or  suffer  the  confiscation  of  his  estate. 

DE  ROSSET,  LEWIS  H.  A  member  of  the  Council  of  North 
Carolina.  He  was  present  in  Council,  April  2,  1775,  and 
gave  his  assent  to  the  issuing  of  a  Proclamation  to  forbid  the 
meeting  of  a  Whig  Convention  at  Newbern  on  the  following 
day.  This  Convention  was  for  the  purpose  of  electing  Dele 
gates  to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  was  in  communication 
with  Governor  Martin,  after  the  royal  authority  had  ceased, 
and  his  Excellency  had  abandoned  the  palace. 

DEVEAUX,  ANDREW,  Junior.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  officer 
of  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston  in  1780.  Es 
tate  confiscated. 

DEVEAUX,  JACOB.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  Congratulator 
of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  confiscated.  He  was  banished. 

DE  VEBER,  GABRIEL.  Of  New  York.  He  entered  the  mili 
tary  service  of  the  crown,  and  in  1782  was  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  American  Volunteers.  He  settled 
in  New  Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  a  grantee 
of  the  city  of  St.  John.  He  received  half-pay.  In  1792  he 
was  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Sunbury,  and  colonel  in  the 
militia.  He  died  in  that  County.  Margaret  his  wife,  third 
daughter  of  Doctor  Nathaniel  Hubbard,  of  Stamford,  Con 
necticut,  died  in  King's  County  in  1813. 

DE  VEBER,  GABRIEL.  Junior.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Gabriel 
De  Veber.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's  Third 
Battalion.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at -the 
peace,  was  a  grantee  of  that  city,  and  received  half-pay.  He 
died  in  New  Brunswick. 
22* 


258  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

DEVOE,  FREDERICK  and  JAMES.  In  1783  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and  lands  were  granted  to  them ;  the  latter 
died  at  Hampton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1833,  aged  seventy- 
nine. 

DEVOE,  LEVI.     Was  a  Protester  in  1775. 

DEWSENBURGH,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
Protester,  &c. 

DIBBLEE,  FREDERICK.  He  was  born  at  Stamford,  Connecticut, 
and  graduated  at  King's  College,  New  York.  After  the  Revo 
lution,  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  became  rector  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  at  Woodstock.  He  died  at  that  place 
in  1826,  aged  seventy- three.  Nancy,  his  widow,  died  at  the 
same  place  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  eighty- three. 

DIBBLEE,  FYLER.  Attorney  at  Law,  Stamford,  Connecticut. 
In  1775  he  was  captain  of  the  first  military  company  of 
Stamford,  and  a  person  of  consideration.  He  early  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Whigs,  and  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut 
appointed  commissioners  to  inquire  into  his  conduct.  In  1778 
he  and  sixteen  other  Loyalists  were  taken  prisoners  on  Long 
Island,  New  York,  by  a  party  of  Whigs  who  landed  there  from 
boats.  His  property  in  Connecticut  was  confiscated.  In  1783 
he  was  a  deputy  agent  for  the  transportation  of  Loyalists 
from  New  York  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  in  April  of  that  year, 
sailed  from  Huntington  Bay  in  the  ship  Union  for  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and  arrived  in  May.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  five  children,  and  two  servants.  In  1784  he 
received  the  grant  of  two  city  lots.  Some  years  after  he  com 
mitted  suicide.  Various  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  the 
melancholy  termination  of  his  life. 

DIBBLEE,  RALPH.  Died  at  Kingston,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1799. 

DIBBLEE,  WALTER.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  He  arrived 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 
The  crown  granted  him  a  city  lot  in  1734.  He  died  at  Sus 
sex  Vale,  New  Brunswick,  in  1817,  aged  fifty- three. 

DIBBLEE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  In  the  spring 
of  1783  he  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship 
Union. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 

DICK,  JOHN.  A  Loyalist  of  the  emigration  from  the  United 
States  of  the  year  1783.  He  died  at  St.  George,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1839.  aged  ninety-five  years. 

DICKENSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775.  Francis  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with 
the  royal  army  in  1776.  Nathaniel,  of  Deerfield,  and  Roger, 
of  Hatfield,  Massachusetts,  were  proscribed  and  banished  in 
1778.  Besides  these  of  the  same  name,  Turtullus,  was  a 
major  in  the  royal  service ;  was  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1784,  and  received  a  grant  of  land.  Samuel,  went  to  New 
Brunswick  also,  was  a  grantee  of  land,  and  in  1792,  a  magis 
trate  in  Queen's  County. 

DICKSON,  ROBERT.  Settled  in  Nova  Scotia.  Was  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  magistrate  of  the  District  'of 
Colchester.  He  died  in  1835. 

DICKSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year. 

DICKSON,  W.  Of  New  York.  He  commanded  a  company 
in  the  New  York  Volunteers.  In  1780  he  was  drowned  at 
Long  Island  while  bathing.  His  body  was  found  and  in 
terred. 

DINGEE,  SOLOMON.  He  died  at  Gagetown,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1836,  aged  eighty. 

DINGWELL,  ARTHUR.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  In 
1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  of  St.  John. 

DITMARS,  ABRAHAM,  Douw,  GARRET,  ISAAC,  and  JOHN.  Of 
Queen's  County,  New  York.  Were  signers  of  a  Representa 
tion  and  Petition  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William  Howe, 
acknowledging  allegiance,  October,  1776.  Isaac  signed  a 
Declaration  of  Loyalty  in  1775,  and  Douw  Ditmars,  junior, 
did  the  same.  In  1777,  Douw  was  appointed  a  trustee  to  pro 
vide  fuel  and  other  articles  for  the  hospital  on  Long  Island. 
Some  of  the  Ditmars  of  Queen's  County  went  to  Nova  Scotia 
at  the  peace.  John  J.  Ditmars  died  in  that  Colony  in  1829, 
aged  ninety-seven. 


260  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Drx,  JONATHAN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

DIXON,  CHARLES.  He  became  an  inhabitant  of  New  Bruns 
wick  at  the  peace,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier,  and  continued  a 
resident  of  the  Colony  until  his  death,  in  1817,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-nine. 

DIXON,  JOSEPH.  He  died  at  Hampton,  King's  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1812,  aged  ninety-two. 

DOBBS,  EDWARD  BRICE.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  1777  his 
property  was  confiscated. 

DOGGIT,  JOHN.  Of  Middleborough,  Massachusetts.  He  went 
to  New  Brunswick,  and  died  on  the  Island  of  Grand  Menan, 
Bay  of  Fundy,  in  1830,  aged  seventy. 

DOLSTON,  ISAAC,  ISAAC  Junior,  and  MATTHEW.  Of  Wyoming, 
Pennsylvania.  Were  severally  required  to  surrender  them 
selves  for  trial  on  a  charge  of  treason  to  the  State,  within  a 
specified  time  in  1778,  or  stand  attainted. 

DONALDSON,  SAMUEL.  He  was  at  New  York  in  July,  1783, 
and  was  one  of  the  fifty-five  who  petitioned  for  grants  of  lands 
in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

DONAVAN,  JAMES,  Junior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  In  1782, 
J.  Donaven,  and  probably  the  same,  was  a  lieutenant  of  in 
fantry  in  the  British  Legion. 

DORLAN,  or  DORLAND.  Benjamin,  Benjamin  junior,  David, 
Elias  the  third,  John,  Joseph,  Samuel,  and  Thomas,  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 
In  1780  Joseph  Dorian,  of  that  County,  was  in  the  military 
service  of  the  crown. 

DOUGHERTY,  EDWARD.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for 
Halifax.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  died  in  extreme  poverty 
on  the  river  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  where  he  had  lived 
many  years,  about  the  year  1808. 

DOUGHTY.  Two  of  this  name  were  attached  to  De  Lancey's 
Third  Battalion  in  1782 ;  Charles,  as  surgeon,  and  Bartholo 
mew,  as  a  captain. 

DOUGHTY,  SAMUEL.     Of  Jamaica,  New  York.     Was  a  signer 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  261 

of  the  Declaration  of  loyalty,  January,  1775.     His  son  Sam 
uel,  and  a  John  Doughty,  of  Jamaica,  signed  the  same. 

DOUGHTY,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

DOUGLAS,  BENJAMIN.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the 
King's  Rangers,  Carolina. 

DOUNIE,  JOHN.  Of  Camden,  South  Carolina.  Was  in  com 
mission  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston. 
Estate  confiscated. 

DOUNING,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

DOUNS,  ARCHIBALD,  or  ARTHUR.  Of  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina.  An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was 
banished.  In  1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

DOWLING,  SAMUEL,  Was  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  city  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

DOXSTADER,  JOHN.  A  Tory  leader.  On  an  incursion  to 
Currietown,  he  and  his  Indian  associates  took  nine  prisoners, 
who,  in  an  affair  at  a  place  called  Ourlagh,  New  York,  the 
day  succeeding  their  capture,  were  bound  to  standing  trees, 
tomahawked  and  scalped.  The  bodies  of  these  unfortunate 
men  were  hastily  buried  by  friends.  But  one  of  them,  Jacob 
Diefendorff,  was  alive,  and  was  afterwards  found  on  the  out 
side  of  his  own  grave ;  he  recovered  and  lived  to  relate  the 
story.  In  1780,  on  one  of  his  incursions  in  New  York,  Dox- 
stader  carried  away  a  horse  belonging  to  a  Whig ;  but  com 
ing  to  the  same  region,  from  Canada,  after  the  war,  he  was 
arrested  by  the  owner,  and  compelled  to  pay  the  value  of  the 
animal. 

DOYLE,  JOHN.  In  1782  was  a  captain  in  the  Second  Ameri 
can  Regiment. 

DRAKE,  JOHN.  Innkeeper,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware.  Was 
required  in  1778  to  surrender  himself,  or  to  submit  to  the  for 
feiture  of  his  property. 

DRAKE,  JEREMIAH.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and 
died  at  St.  John  in  1846,  aged  eighty. 

DRAKE,  FRANCIS.     Died  at  Q,ueensbury,  New  Brunswick,  in 


262  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

1836,  aged  eighty-one.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  crown 
for  some  years. 

DRAKE,  URIAH.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  died  at  Carlton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1832,  at  the  age  of 
seventy. 

DRAPER,  RICHARD.  Printer  and  proprietor  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Gazette,  and  Boston  News  Letter.  He  was  the  appren 
tice,  silent  partner,  and  successor  of  his  father,  John  Draper. 
He  was  early  appointed  printer  to  the  Governor  and  Council, 
which  employment  he  retained  during  life.  His  paper  was 
devoted  to  the  government,  and  in  the  controversy  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  gave  strong  support  to  the 
royal  cause,  and  had  some  able  contributors.  He  was  a  man 
of  feeble  health ;  and  was  remarkable  for  the  delicacy  of  his 
mind,  and  gentleness  of  his  manners.  No  stain  rested  upon 
his  character.  He  was  attentive  to  his  affairs,  and  was  es 
teemed  the  best  compiler  of  news  of  his  day.  He  died  June 
6th,  1774,  aged  forty-seven  years ;  without  children. 

DRAPER,  MARGARET.  Wife  of  Richard  Draper,  of  Boston. 
With  the  aid  of  John  Howe,  continued  the  publication  of  the 
Massachusetts  Gazette,  and  Boston  News  Letter  from  the  time 
of  her  husband's  death  in  1774,  until  the  evacuation  of  Bos 
ton  in  1776 ;  and  her  paper  was  the  only  one  that  was  pub 
lished  during  the  siege  of  that  town.  She  accompanied  the 
British  army  to  Halifax,  and  proceeding  to  England,  lived 
there  for  the  remainder  of  her  days.  Her  death  occurred,  it 
is  believed,  about  the  opening  of  the  present  century.  The 
British  Government  allowed  her  a  pension.  Trumbull,  in  his 
McFingal,  calls  her  "  mother  Draper.'7 

DREDDEN,  W.  Of  New  York.  An  officer  in  a  band  of 
marauders. 

DREW,  JOHN,  ISAAC,  and  PETER.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Con 
necticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading  Association. 

DREW,  JOSEPH.  A  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick  ;  he  died  there  in  1808. 

DRINKER,  HENRY.     Of  Philadelphia.     In  1777,  charged  with 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  263 

disaffection  to  the  Whigs,  he  was  confined  in  that  city,  and 
sent  to  Virginia. 

DRUMMOND,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the 
King's  American  Regiment. 

DRUMMOND,  JAMES.  Was  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  city  of 
St.  John  in  1783. 

DRUMMOND,  ROBERT.  Was  major  of  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers  in  1782. 

DRY,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  collector  of 
the  customs,  and  a  member  of  the  Royal  Council.  When  Mr. 
Quincy  of  Massachusetts  was  on  his  southern  tour  in  1773, 
he  was  his  guest,  and  recorded  in  his  journal,  that  "  Colonel 
Dry's  mansion  is  justly  called  the  house  of  universal  hospital 
ity."  At  this  time,  it  is  probable,  from  circumstances  related 
by  Mr.  Quincy,  that  Mr.  Dry  was  inclined  to  the  popular  side. 
But,  by  the  records  of  the  Royal  Council,  it  appears,  that  April 
12,  1775,  he  li  took  again  the  oath  appointed  to  be  taken  by 
Privy  Counsellors."  The  Board  at  this  meeting  dismissed 
from  a  commission  of  the  Peace  Colonel  John  Harvey,  one  of 
the  most  zealous  Whigs  in  North  Carolina,  and  with  the  con 
sent  of  all  the  members  present.  Yet  I  find  that,  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1776,  Colonel  Dry  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  new,  or  Whig  Council.  But  a  man  who 
changed  so  often  was  not  a  Whig. 

Du  Bois,  PETER.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated.  I  suppose  that  Colonel  Dubois,  who  commanded  a 
corps  of  Loyalists,  and  was  in  service  under  Sir  John  Johnson, 
was  the  same. 

DUCHE,  JACOB,  D.  D.  An  Episcopal  minister  of  Philadelphia. 
He  was  born  in  that  city,  and  graduated  at  the  college  there 
in  1757.  He  entered  the  ministry,  and  after  the  first  Conti 
nental  Congress  assembled,  in  1774,  officiated  as  chaplain  on 
the  7th  of  September,  and  was  thanked  by  a  vote  of  that  body, 
"  for  the  excellent  prayer  which  he  composed  and  delivered" 
on  the  occasion.  At  this  time  he  was  assistant  rector  of  two 
churches,  but  on  the  death  of  Reverend  Doctor  Richard  Peters, 
an  Episcopal  minister  of  Philadelphia,  in  1775,  was  appointed 


264  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

his  successor.  In  1776  he  was  elected  chaplain  to  Congress, 
with  a  salary.  The  following  is  the  form  of  prayer,  which 
he  made  use  of  after  Independence  was  declared. 

"  O  Lord !  our  heavenly  Father,  high  and  mighty,  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  who  dost  from  thy  throne  behold  all 
the  dwellers  on  earth,  and  reignest  with  power  supreme  and 
uncontrolled  over  all  kingdoms,  empires  and  governments. 
Look  down  in  mercy,  we  beseech  thee,  on  these  our  American 
States,  who  have  fled  to  thee  from  the  rod  of  the  oppressor, 
and  thrown  themselves  on  thy  gracious  protection,  desiring  to 
be  henceforth  dependent  only  on  thee ;  to  thee  have  they  ap 
pealed  for  the  righteousness  of  their  cause ;  to  thee  do  they 
now  look  up  for  that  countenance  and  support,  which  thou 
alone  canst  give  :  take  them,  therefore,  heavenly  Father, 
under  thy  nurturing  care ;  give  them  wisdom  in  council,  and 
valor  in  the  field ;  defeat  the  malicious  designs  of  our  cruel 
adversaries ;  convince  them  of  the  unrighteousness  of  their 
cause,  and  if  they  still  persist  in  their  sanguinary  purposes, 
O !  let  the  voice  of  thine  own  unerring  justice,  sounding  in 
their  hearts,  constrain  them  to  drop  the  weapons  of  war  from 
their  unnerved  hands  in  the  day  of  battle.  Be  thou  present, 
O  God  of  wisdom,  and  direct  the  councils  of  this  honorable 
assembly;  enable  them  to  settle  things  on  the  best  and  surest 
foundation,  that  the  scene  of  blood  may  be  speedily  closed, 
that  order,  harmony  and  peace  may  be  effectually  restored, 
and  truth  and  justice,  religion  and  piety,  prevail  and  flourish 
amongst  thy  people ;  preserve  the  health  of  their  bodies  and 
the  vigor  of  their  minds ;  shower  down  on  them,  and  the 
millions  they  represent,  such  temporal  blessings,  as  thou  seest 
expedient  for  them  in  this  world,  and  crown  them  with  ever 
lasting  glory  in  the  world  to  come.  All  this  we  ask  in  the 
name,  and  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son  and 
our  Saviour.  Amen." 

He  officiated  as  chaplain  about  three  months,  when  he  aban 
doned  the  Whigs,  and  resigned.  In  October,  1777,  he  wrote 
an  extraordinary  letter  to  Washington,  which  was  delivered 
by  Mrs.  Ferguson,  and  which  the  Commander-in-chief  trans- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  265 

mitted  to  Congress.  The  objects  of  this  communication  were, 
to  cast  a  general  odium  on  the  Whig  cause,  to  induce  Wash 
ington  to  apostatize,  and  resign  his  command  of  the  army,  or, 
at  the  head  of  it,  to  force  Congress  immediately  to  desist  from 
hostilities,  and  to  rescind  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  If 
this  is  not  done,  said  Duche,  "You  have  an  infallible  resource 
still  left ;  negotiate  for  America  at  the  head  of  your  army" 
In  the  course  of  this  letter,  he  represents  Congress  in  a  most 
despicable  view ;  as  consisting  of  weak,  obscure  persons,  not 
fit  associates  for  Washington ;  and  he  speaks  of  the  members 
from  New  England,  especially,  with  great  indelicacy.  The 
army,  in  his  estimation,  both  officers  and  men,  were  possessed 
neither  of  courage  nor  principle,  and  were  taken  from  the  low 
est  of  the  people. 

Various  motives  were  assigned  for  his  apostasy ;  some  be 
lieved  that  it  was  occasioned  by  the  gloomy  aspect  of  affairs ; 
others  supposed  that  it  arose  from  a  change  in  his  sentiments 
respecting  the  justice  of  the  Whig  cause.  But  whatever  was 
the  reason,  the  aspersions  contained  in  his  letter  admit  of  no 
excuse ;  he  degraded  his  profession,  and  loaded  his  name  and 
memory  with  infamy.  After  quitting  Philadelphia,  Doctor 
Duche  went  to  England,  and  became  chaplain  to  an  asylum 
for  orphans.  He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  talents,  an  impressive 
orator,  had  a  fine  poetical  taste,  and  figured  as  a  preacher 
even  in  London.  He  was  banished,  and  his  estate  was  con 
fiscated.  In  April,  1783,  he  solicited  Washington's  influence 
to  effect  a  repeal  of  the  act  that  kept  him  in  banishment  from 
his  native  country,  "from  the  arms  of  a  dear  aged  father,  and 
the  embraces  of  a  numerous  circle  of  valuable  and  long-loved 
friends.  Washington  replied,  that  his  feelings  as  an  individual 
were  favorable,  but  that  his  case  must  continue  to  rest  with 
the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1790,  the  laws  of  that 
State  having  allowed  the  refugee  loyalists  to  return,  Doctor 
Duche  came  back  to  Philadelphia  in  shattered  health.  He 
died  in  1798,  aged  about  sixty  years.  One  account  states  that 
his  decease  occurred  in  1794.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  Francis 
Hopkinson,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  His 
23 


266 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


daughter  Sophia  married  John  Henry,  a  person  whose  real  or 
supposed  connexion  with  our  politics  about  the  time  of  the 
war  of  1812,  caused  considerable  sensation.  He  published 
several  sermons  before  his  defection,  and  two  volumes  in  Lon 
don,  in  1780. 

DUCKINFIELD,  SIR  NATHANIEL,  Baronet.    Of  North  Carolina.    A 

member  of  the  Council.     In  1779  his  property  was  confiscated. 

DUDLEY,  CHARLES.  Collector  of  the  Customs,  Newport,  Rhode 

Island.     In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the 

British  army. 

DUELLY,  WILLIAM.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for 
Halifax  with  the  British  army. 

DUFFUS,  CHARLES.  He  died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1818,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

DUKER,  HENRY.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick. 

DULANEY,  WALTER.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  Maryland 
Loyalists. 

DULANY,  DANIEL.  Of  Maryland.  Early  in  the  controversy, 
he  and  Charles  Carroll  engaged  in  a  warm  newspaper  discus 
sion,  which  attracted  much  interest.  Dulany  wrote  over  the 
signature  of  Antilore,  and  his  Whig  antagonist  adopted  that 
of  the  First  Citizen.  Dulany  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  his 
time.  Before  the  Revolution  he  held  the  offices  of  Secretary 
and  Attorney-general  of  Maryland,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Council.  Few  memorials  remain  of  him,  but  he  is  ever  men 
tioned  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect.  Mr.  Q,uincy,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  while  on  his  journey  to  the  South  in  1773,  spoke  of 
spending  "  three  hours  with  the  celebrated  Daniel  Dulany." 
He  died  soon  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities. 

DULANY,  LLOYD.  Of  Annapolis,  Maryland.  On  the  27th 
of  May,  1774,  the  Whigs  of  that  city  passed  the  following 
Resolution. 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  the  gentlemen 
of  the  law  of  this  Province  bring  no  suit  for  the  recovery  of 
any  debt  due  from  any  inhabitant  of  this  Province  to  any  in- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  267 

habitant  of  Great  Britain, 'until  the  said  Act  [Boston  Port  Bill] 
be  repealed." 

Three  days  after,  Mr.  Dulany's  name  appeared  at  the  head 
of  the  following  Protest. 

"  Dissentient.  1.  Because  we  are  impressed  with  a  full  con 
viction,  that  this  resolution  is  founded  in  treachery  and  rash 
ness,  inasmuch  as  it  is  big  with  bankruptcy  and  ruin  to  those 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,  who,  relying  with  unlimited  secu 
rity  on  our  good  faith  and  integrity,  have  made  us  masters  of 
their  fortunes;  condemning  them  unheard,  for  not  having  in 
terposed  their  influence  with  Parliament  in  favor  of  the  town 
of  Boston,  without  duly  weighing  the  force  with  which  that 
influence  would  probably  have  operated,  or  whether  in  their 
conduct  they  were  actuated  by  wisdom  and  policy,  or  by  cor 
ruption  and  avarice. 

U2.  Because,  whilst  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  are 
partially  despoiled  of  every  legal  remedy  to  recover  what  is 
justly  due  to  them,  no  provision  is  made  to  prevent  us  from 
being  harassed  by  the  prosecution  of  internal  suits,  but  our 
fortunes  and  persons  are  left  at  the  mercy  of  domestic  credi 
tors,  without  a  possibility  of  extricating  ourselves  unless  by  a 
general  convulsion ;  an  event,  in  the  contemplation  of  sober 
reason,  replete  with  horror. 

"3.  Because  our  credit  as  a  commercial  people  will  expire 
under  the  wound ;  for  what  confidence  can  possibly  be  re 
posed  in  those  who  shall  have  exhibited  the  most  avowed  and 
most  striking  proof  that  they  are  not  to  be  bound  by  obliga 
tions  as  sacred  as  human  invention  can  suggest." 

Mr.  Dulany  became  a  refugee  Loyalist.  He  went  to  Eng 
land  ;  in  1779  he  was  in  London,  and  addressed  the  king. 

DUMARESQUE,  PHILIP.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  In  1776  he 
was  at  Halifax.  Two  years  later  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

DUMONT,  PETER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DUNBAR,  DANIEL.     Of  Halifax,  Massachusetts.    Was  an  offi- 


268 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


cer  in  the  militia,  and  in  1774  a  mob  demanded  of  him  the 
surrender  of  the  colors  of  his  company.  He  refused,  when 
the  multitude  broke  into  his  house,  took  him  out,  forced  him 
to  get  upon  a  rail,  where  he  was  held  and  tossed  up  and  down 
until  he  was  exhausted.  He  was  then  dragged  and  beaten, 
and  gave  up  the  standard  to  save  his  life.  In  1776  he  went  to 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  with  the  royal  army.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished. 

DUNBAR,  GEORGE.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  a 
captain  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion. 

DUNBAR,  JESSE.  Of  Halifax,  Massachusetts.  Bought  some 
fat  cattle  of  a  Mandamus  Councillor  in  1774,  and  drove  them 
to  Plymouth  for  sale.  The  Whigs  soon  learned  with  whom 
Dunbar  had  presumed  to  deal,  and  after  he  had  slaughtered, 
skinned,  and  hung  up  one  of  the  beasts,  commenced  punishing 
him  for  the  offence.  That  punishment  was  cruel  in  the  ex 
treme.  His  tormentors,  it  appears,  put  the  dead  ox  in  a  cart, 
and  fixed  Dunbar  in  his  belly,  carted  him  four  miles,  and  re 
quired  him  to  pay  one  dollar  for  the  ride.  He  then  was  deliv 
ered  over  to  a  Kingston  mob,  who  carted  him  four  other  miles, 
and  exacted  another  dollar.  A  Duxbury  mob  then  took  him, 
and  after  beating  him  in  the  face  with  the  creature's  tripe,  and 
endeavoring  to  cover  his  person  with  it,  carried  him  to  Coun 
cillor  Thomas's  house,  and  compelled  him  to  pay  a  further 
sum  of  money.  Flinging  his  beef  into  the  road,  they  now  left 
him  to  recover  and  return  as  he  could. 

DUNBAR,  JOSEPH,  Senior.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Was  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 

DUNCAN.  ALEXANDER.  Embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  in 
1776. 

DUNCAN,  JAMES.  Blacksmith,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  was  ban 
ished,  and  his  property  was  confiscated  in  1782. 

DUNCAN,  WILLIAM.  Was  chaplain  of  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers. 

DUNHAM.  Captain  Asher  Dunham,  and  Daniel  Dunham, 
were  among  the  Loyalists  who  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 

wick,  in  1783,  and  both  received  grants  of  city  lots.  John 
Dunham,  who  emigrated  the  same  year,  and  who  was  a  cap 
tain  in  the  militia  of  New  Brunswick,  died  at  Carl  ton  in  1829, 
aged  eighty-one. 

DUNLAP,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Was 
in  arms  against  the  rebels,  and  in  1780  belonged  to  the  party 
under  lieutenant  McKain. 

DUNLAP,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Lost  his  property  by 
confiscation  in  1779. 

DUNLAP,  CHARLES  and  ST.  JOHN.  Were  officers  of  infantry 
in  the  Queen's  Rangers. 

DUNN,  JOHN,  Esquire.  Of  New  York.  He  left  the  United 
States  at  the  termination  of  hostilities,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  and  through  life 
contributed  to  its  improvement  and  prosperity.  For  many 
years  he  held  the  honorable  and  lucrative  post  of  Comptroller 
of  His  Majesty's  Customs  at  that  port.  He  died  at  St.  An 
drew,  April  14,  1829,  aged  seventy-six.  His  wife,  Elizabeth, 
survived  until  January,  1835,  and  at  her  decease  was  seventy- 
three.  He  was  a  man  proverbially  kind,  liberal,  and  hospit 
able. 

DUNN,  JOSEPH.  Was  adjutant  of  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion,  and  held  a  commission  of  ensign. 

DUNN,  SELLICK.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick. 

DUNNING, .  Of  North  Carolina.      In  1776  he  was   an 

ensign  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists,  was  in  arms  against  the  Whigs 
of  that  State,  and  was  captured  and  imprisoned. 

DUNNING,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DUPONT,  GIDEON,  Junior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  ban 
ished.  In  1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

DURFEE,  JOSEPH.  Of  Rhode  Island.  In  1777  he  was  com 
missioned  a  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal  Newport  Associators. 

DURLING,  GARRET.     Of  Jamaica,  New  York.     A  signer  of 
a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 
23* 


270  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

DURST,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DURYE,  RULIFF.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a 
Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 

DUTARQUE,  LEWIS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

DWIGHT,  TIMOTHY.  Was  surgeon's  mate  of  the  King's 
American  Dragoons. 

DWYER,  EDWARD.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  In  1776 
he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  British  army. 

DYER,  HENRY.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick. 

DYKERMAN,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  Ar 
rived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783,  in 
the  ship  Union.  Garret  Dykerman  arrived  the  same  year, 
and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

EAGAR,  JOHN.  Of  Rutland,  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

EAGAR,  JAMES.  Of  Northborough,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

EARLE,  EDWARD.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Third  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick ;  re 
ceived  half-pay ;  and  died  at  Grand  Lake,  in  that  Colony. 

EARLE,  JUSTUS.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  Settled  in  the  Colony  of  New 
Brunswick. 

EARLE,  PHILIP.  Went  to  New  Brunswick.  He  was  a  gran 
tee  of  the  city  of  St.  John. 

EASTERBROOKS,  JAMES.  He  was  an  early  settler  of  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  magistrate  and  member  of  the  House 
of  Assembly  for  many  years.  He  died  at  Sackville,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 

EUDIS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Maryland.  Was  in  London  in  1779, 
and  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king. 

EDDY,  CHARLES.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  appre 
hended  and  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Virginia,  as  a  prisoner.  He 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


271 


went  to  England,  subsequently,  and  was  in  London  in  July, 
1779. 

EDMISTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England, 
and  was  there  previous  to  July,  1779. 

EDSON,  JOSIAH.  Of  Bridgewater,  Massachusetts.  He  was 
a  noted  politician  of  the  time,  and  was  known  by  the  two 
most  odious  appellations  which  prevailed ;  namely,  as  a  Re- 
scinder,  and  a  Mandamus  Councillor.  Hutchinson  speaks 
of  him  in  1771,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  as  one  of  the  several  gentlemen  of  that  body, 
who,  in  common  times,  would  have  had  great  weight,  but 
who,  then,  discouraged  by  the  great  superiority  'of  the  num 
bers  against  them,  were  inactive.  In  1774,  Mr.  Edson  was 
driven  from  his  house  by  a  mob,  and  was  compelled  to  reside 
in  Boston,  under  protection  of  the  British  troops ;  and  at  the 
evacuation  in  1776,  he  accompanied  the  army  to  Halifax. 
He  went  from  Halifax  to  New  York,  and  died  in  that  city, 
or  on  Long  Island,  not  long  after  his  arrival.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  University,  a  colonel  in  the  militia,  a 
deacon  of  the  church,  and  a  respectable,  virtuous  man.  He 
is  alluded  to  in  McFingal,  as  "  That  old  simplicity  of  Ed- 
son." 

EDWARDS,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  of  infantry  in 
the  British  Legion. 

EDWARDS,  JOSEPH,  Junior.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecti 
cut.  Was  a  member  of  the  Reading  Association. 

EDWARDS,  MORGAN.  A  Baptist  clergyman.  He  was  born 
in  Wales  in  1722,  and  came  to  America  in  1761.  He  was 
at  first  pastor  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia,  and,  subsequently, 
labored  in  various  places,  either  as  lecturer  or  preacher.  Op 
posed  to  the  Revolution,  he  gave  up  the  ministry  during  the 
war.  He  was  an  eccentric  man,  and  among  his  acts  was 
the  preaching  of  his  own  funeral  sermon.  He  lived  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  the  solemn  farce,  dying  in  1795,  aged 
seventy-two.  He  published  many  sermons,  and  left  nume 
rous  manuscripts. 

EDWARDS,  SAMUEL.     Pilot,  of  Delaware.     He  was  required 


272 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


to  surrender  and  abide  a  trial  for  treason,  or  lose  his  property 
by  forfeiture. 

EDWARDS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

EDWARDS,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon's  mate  of  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment. 

EFFA,  CASPER.  He  went  to  St  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

EGAN,  DANIEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Georgia 
Loyalists. 

EGBERT,  ANTHONY.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and,  subsequently,  city  surveyor. 

ELDRIDGE,  JOSHUA.  Mariner,  of  Falmouth,  now  Portland, 
Maine.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

ELDRIF,  LUKE.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a 
Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs,  January, 
1775. 

ELINSTONE,  DAVID.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick. 

ELLIOT,  ANDREW.  Of  New  York.  He  was  Collector  of  the 
Customs  for  the  port  of  New  York,  from  about  the  year  1764 
until  the  Revolution,  and  performed  his  official  duties  in  a 
manner  highly  satisfactory.  His  first  difficulty  with  the  peo 
ple  of  a  serious  nature  occurred  in  1774,  when  he  seized 
some  fire-arms,  and  was  threatened  with  a  visit  from  the 
"  Mohawks  and  river  Indians,"  or,  in  other  words,  with  a  coat 
of  tar  and  feathers.  After  the  royal  army  took  possession  of 
New  York,  he  continued  to  perform  his  duties  of  collector, 
and  during  the  war  held  various  important  offices.  In  1782 
he  was  not  only  at  the  head  of  the  Customs,  but  was  Lieu 
tenant  Governor,  Receiver  General  of  Quit-rents,  Superintend 
ent  General  of  Police,  and  Chief  of  the  Superintendent  De 
partment,  established  by  Sir  William  Howe  in  1777.  And 
when,  in  1780,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  made  his  last  effort  to  save 
Andre,  Mr.  Elliot  was  one  of  the  three  eminent  persons  who 
were  sent  to  confer  with  Washington.  Mr.  Elliot's  estate  in 
New  York  was  confiscated ;  and  the  Executive  Council  of 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS. 


273 


Pennsylvania,  to  reach  property  possessed  by  him  in  that 
State,  ordered  by  proclamation,  that  on  his  failing  to  appear 
within  a  specified  time,  to  take  his  trial  on  the  charge  of 
treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

ELLIOT,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

ELLIOT,  CAPTAIN .  Noted  for  his  revengeful  disposition 

and  infamous  deeds.  In  the  documents  of  the  time,  McKee, 
Elliot,  and  Simon  Girty,  are  mentioned  together,  and  as  form 
ing  a  sort  of  triumvirate.  The  three  were  imprisoned  by  the 
Whigs  at  Pittsburgh,  but  made  their  escape,  and  in  1778 
traversed  the  country  to  enlist  the  savages  against  the  rebels. 
The  effects  of  their  councils  were  long  felt  and  deplored. 
After  the  Revolution,  and  during  the  Indian  troubles  of  Wash 
ington's  administration,  Elliot's  hostile  feelings  towards  the 
country  which  he  had  abandoned,  were  sufficiently  manifest 
to  deserve  marked  and  emphatic  consideration,  and  universal 
and  lasting  detestation.  He  was  dismissed  from  the  British 
Colonial  service  about  the  year  1801,  without  trial,  but 
whether  for  misconduct,  is  unknown  to  the  writer. 

ELLIS,  ABIEL.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  impris 
oned  for  disaffection  to  the  Whig  cause  in  1778;  and  Ephraim, 
Junior,  of  the  same  town,  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

ELLIS,  DANIEL.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers, 
Carolina. 

ELLIS,  DAVID.  Was  adjutant  of  the  King's  Rangers,  Caro 
lina. 

ELLIS,  EDMUND.  Of  South  Carolina.  Lost  his  property  un 
der  the  confiscation  act  of  that  State  in  1782. 

ELLISON,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774. 

ELLWOOD,  JOHN.  Of  Bristol,  County  of  Bucks,  Pennsylvania. 
His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

ELMS,  THOMAS.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick. 

ELSE,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  an  office  under 
the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  was  banished,  and 


274  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

lost  his  estate.  Thomas,  was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clin 
ton,  and  met  a  similar  fate  in  person  and  property. 

ELTON,  PETER.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

EMERSON,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

EMERSON,  THOMAS.  A  physician.  He  died  at  Fredericton. 
New  Brunswick,  in  1843,  aged  eighty-one. 

EMMENS,  HENDRICKS,  Senior.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A 
signer  of  a  Declaration  in  1775.  His  son  Hendricks  signed 
the  same. 

ENGLISH,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

EPHRAIM,  HENRY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

ERVING,  GEORGE.  A  merchant,  of  Boston.  He  was  one  of 
the  fifty-eight  memorialists  who  were  the  first  men  in  America 
to  array  themselves  against  the  officers  of  the  crown.  He 
was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  llutchinson  in  1774;  was  pro 
scribed  under  the  act  of  1778  ;  and  his  estate  was  confiscated 
under  the  conspiracy  act  of  the  year  1779.  He  went  to  Hali 
fax  at  the  evacuatj^n,  and  thence  to  England.  He  died  in 
London  in  1806,  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  the  Honorable  Isaac  Roy  all,  of  Medford. 

ERVING,  JOHN.     Of  Boston.     An  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 

ERVING,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1747.  In  1760  he  signed  the  Boston  Me 
morial,  and  was  thus  one  of  the  fifty-eight  who  were  the  first 
men  in  America  to  array  themselves  against  the  officers  of  the 
crown.  But  in  1774  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutch inson,  and 
the  same  year  was  appointed  a  Mandamus  Councillor.  In 
1776  he  fled  to  Halifax,  and  went  thence  to  England.  In 
1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished ;  and  in  1779  his  pro 
perty  was  confiscated  under  the  conspiracy  act.  He  died  in 
England  in  1816,  aged  eighty-nine  years.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Governor  Shirley.  The  wife  of  Governor  Bow- 
doin  was  his  sister. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  275 

EUSTACE,  STEPHEN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
King's  American  Regiment. 

EUSTACE,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished 
in  1782,  and  his  property  was  confiscated. 

EVERITT,  BENJAMIN,  DANIEL,  JAMES,  and  NICHOLAS.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 
James  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  previously,  and  in  1775 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  in  Digby  in  1799. 

EVERITT,  GEORGE.  Was  a  quartermaster  in  the  king's  ser 
vice.  Went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783 ;  and  died  at  Fred 
eric  ton  in  1829,  aged  seventy. 

EVANS,  EDMUND.  In  1782  was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's 
Third  Battalion. 

EVANS,  JOHN  and  WILLIAM.  Carpenters,  of  Philadelphia. 
Were  ordered  to  surrender  themselves,  or  stand  attainted; 
while  by  another  act  the  property  of  Joel,  a  merchant  of  that 
city,  was  confiscated. 

FAGEN,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

FAIRCHILD,  JAMES  M.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783, 
and  died  at  St.  John  in  1807. 

FAIRFAX,  BRYAN.  Of  Virginia.  He  was  the  third  son  of 
the  Honorable  Colonel  William  Fairfax.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Wilson  Carey,  of  Virginia,  and  his  residence  was 
at  Towlston  Hall  in  Fairfax  County,  though  for  some  years, 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he  was  an  Episcopal  clergy 
man  at  Alexandria.  An  affectionate  intercourse  existed  be 
tween  him  and  Washington  throughout  life  ;  both  were  of  too 
elevated  a  cast  to  allow  political  differences  of  opinion  to  alien 
ate  and  separate  them.  In  1774  Washington  expressed  an 
earnest  wish  that  he  should  stand  as  a  candidate  for  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  but  he  declined.  He  was  opposed  to 
strong  measures,  and  in  favor  of  redress  by  remonstrances  and 
petitions.  "There  are  scarce  any  at  Alexandria,"  he  wrote, 
"of  my  opinion;  and  though  the  few  I  have  elsewhere  con- 


276  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

versed  with  on  the  subject  are  so,  yet  from  them  I  could  learn 
that  many  thought  otherwise ;  so  that  I  believe  I  should  at 
this  time  give  general  dissatisfaction,  arid  therefore  it  would  be 
more  proper  to  decline,  even  upon  this  account,  as  well  as 
because  it  would  necessarily  lead  me  into  great  expenses, 
which  my  circumstances  will  not  allow."  Washington  in 
reply,  remarked,  that  he  would  heartily  join  in  his  political 
sentiments  "  so  far  as  relates  to  a  humble  and  dutiful  petition 
to  the  throne,  provided  there  was  the  most  distant  hope  of 
success.  But,"  said  he,  "have  we  not  tried  this  already? 
Have  we  not  addressed  the  Lords,  and  remonstrated  to  the 
Commons  ?  And  to  what  end  ?  Did  they  deign  to  look  at  our 
petitions?  "  &c. 

Prior  to  July  18,  1774,  Mr.  Fairfax  attended  several  meet 
ings  of  the  Whigs  of  Fairfax  County,  but  at  that  time  with 
drew  from  them.  The  immediate  cause  of  withdrawal  seems 
to  have  been  his  disapprobation  of  some  of  the  resolutions 
prepared  by  a  committee,  and  submitted  to  a  general  meeting 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  County.  Washington  was  chairman 
of  both  the  committee  and  the  meeting,  and  Fairfax  addressed 
to  him  a  communication  expressing  his  views  and  objections, 
which  he  desired  might  be  publicly  read.  Yet  the  two  friends 
did  not  relinquish  their  correspondence  upon  the  great  ques 
tions  which  agitated  the  country;  and  the  letters  of  Washing 
ton  to  this  gentleman  contain  the  fullest  and  most  satisfactory 
exposition  of  his  sentiments  that  Mr.  Sparks  has  preserved. 
On  the  death  of  Robert  Fairfax  (in  1791),  who  was  the  seventh 
Lord  Fairfax,  Bryan  Fairfax  succeeded  to  the  title,  and  was 
the  eighth  and  last  Baron  of  the  name.  Benevolence  and 
kindness  were  marked  traits  in  his  character,  and  he  was  uni 
versally  respected  and  beloved.  Washington  bequeathed  to 
him  an  elegant  Bible  in  three  volumes  folio.  Lord  Bryan  died 
at  Mount  Eagle,  near  Cameron,  in  1802,  aged  seventy-five, 
after  a  long  illness,  which  he  bore  with  resignation. 

FAIRFAX,  GEORGE  WILLIAM.  Of  Virginia.  He  was  the  great 
grandson  of  Thomas,  the  fourth  Lord  Fairfax.  His  father 
was  the  Honorable  Colonel  William  Fairfax,  who  was  Lieu- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  277 

tenant  of  the  County  of  Fairfax,  Collector  of  the  Customs  of 
South  Potomac,  member  and  President  of  the  King's  Council 
in  Virginia.  He  was  educated  in  England,  but  was  the  early 
companion  of  Washington,  and  his  associate  as  surveyor  of 
lands.  On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1757,  he  succeeded  to  his 
estate.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Carey,  of  Hamp 
ton,  became  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  lived  at  Belvoir. 
Some  property  in  Yorkshire  descended  to  him  in  1773,  and  he 
went  to  England ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  political  difficul 
ties  which  followed,  did  not  return  to  America.  He  fixed  his 
residence  at  Bath,  where  he  died  in  1787,  aged  sixty-three. 
During  the  war  he  evinced  much  kindness  to  American  pris 
oners  who  were  carried  to  England.  A  part  of  his  Virginia 
estate  was  confiscated,  by  which  his  income  was  much  re 
duced.  Washington  esteemed  him  highly,  and  they  were  ever 
friends.  The  illustrious  Commander-in-chief  was  named  an 
executor  of  his  will,  but  declined  fulfilling  the  trust  in  conse 
quence  of  his  public  engagements.  Mr.  Fairfax  left  no  chil 
dren.  He  bequeathed  his  American  property  to  Ferdinando, 
the  second  son  of  his  only  surviving  brother. 

FAIRFAX,  LORD  THOMAS.  He  was  the  son  of  Thomas,  the 
fifth  Lord  Fairfax,  and  of  Catharine,  daughter  of  Lord  Cul- 
peper,  and  was  born  in  England  in  1691.  He  was  educated 
at  Oxford,  and  was  regarded  as  a  good  scholar.  Succeeding  to 
the  title  and  to  the  family  estate  in  Virginia,  he  came  over  to 
that  Colony  about  the  year  1739.  After  residing  there  a  year, 
he  returned  to  England ;  but  desirous  of  improving  and  indu 
cing  rapid  settlements  on  his  land,  and  pleased  with  America, 
he  determined  to  make  Virginia  the  place  of  his  permanent 
abode.  He  accordingly  closed  his  affairs  in  England,  and  came 
a  second  time  to  his  estate  in  1745.  He  lived  several  years  with 
William  Fairfax,  at  Belvoir,  but  at  length  fixed  his  residence 
a  few  miles  from  Winchester,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  where  he  laid  out  a  farm,  and  put  it  under  high  culti 
vation.  His  mansion  house  was  called  Green  way  Court,  and 
he  lived  in  a  style  of  liberal  hospitality.  He  was  fond  of 
hunting,  and  indulged  in  the  diversion  nearly  to  excess.  He 
24 


278 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


was  kind  to  the  poor,  and  allowed  them  a  large  part  of  the 
surplus  produce  of  the  land  under  his  immediate  management, 
and  afforded  them  the  use  of  other  parts  of  his  estate  on  terms 
almost  nominal.  Indulgent  to  all  who  held  lands  under 
him,  and  to  all  around  him,  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his 
private  duties,  and  in  the  performance  of  several  honorable 
public  trusts,  he  lived  respected  and  beloved  by  men  of  all 
parties.  Though  a  frank  and  open  Loyalist,  he  was  never 
insulted  or  molested  by  the  Whigs.  When  he  heard  of  the 
surrender  of  Cornwallis,  it  is  related  that  he  said  to  the  ser 
vant  ;  "  Come,  Joe  I  carry  me  to  bed,  for  it  is  high  time  for  me 
to  die."  Nor  did  he  long  survive  this  event.  He  died  at 
Greenway  Court  in  1782,  in  the  ninety-second  year  of  his  age, 
much  lamented.  His  literary  attainments  were  highly  respect 
able,  and  it  is  said  that  in  his  youth  he  was  a  contributor  to 
the  Spectator.  His  remains  were  deposited  under  the  com 
munion-table  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Winchester,  but  were 
removed  in  1833,  to  provide  a  place  for  the  erection  of  a  pile  of 
buildings  on  the  site  of  the  church. 

Lord  Fairfax  was  the  friend  and  patron  of  Washington's 
early  life,  and  though  he  died  before  the  mother  country  ac 
knowledged  the  independence  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  he 
saw  that  the  widow's  son  who  surveyed  his  lands,  was  des 
tined  under  Providence  to  be  the  great  instrument  to  dismem 
ber  the  British  empire. 

His  barony  and  his  immense  domain  in  Virginia,  between 
the  rivers  Potomac  and  Rappahannock,  consisting,  as  ap 
pears  by  parliamentary  papers,  of  five  million,  two  hundred 
and  eighty -two  thousand  acres,  descended  to  his  only  surviving 
brother,  Robert  Fairfax,  who  was  the  seventh  Lord  Fairfax, 
and  who  died  at  Leeds  Castle,  England,  in  1791.  But  as  this 
domain  was  in  possession  of  Lord  Thomas  during  the  revolu 
tionary  controversy,  it  was  confiscated.  Lord  Robert,  how 
ever,  (claiming  in  behalf  of  himself,  of  Frances  Martin, 
his  widowed  sister,  of  Denny  Fairfax,  a  clergyman,  of  Philip 
and  Thomas  Martin,  his  nephews,  and  three  Misses  Martin, 
his  nieces),  applied  to  the  British  government  for  compen- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  279 

sation,  under  the  provision  made  to  Loyalist  sufferers,  and 
stated  the  value  of  the  estate  at  £98,000.  The  commissioners 
made  a  special  report  upon  this  claim,  but  do  not  appear 
to  have  come  to  a  final  decision  with  regard  to  it ;  and 
after  their  labors  were  closed,  it  was  among  the  few  cases 
which  were  referred  to  Parliament  for  settlement.  It  was  con 
sidered  by  a  committee  of  that  body,  who,  as  the  commission 
ers  had  done,  reduced  it  to  £60,000.  Lord  Robert's  life  inter 
est  therein,  they  find  by  the  established  rules  of  computation, 
at  £13,758.  The  value  of  the  life  interest  Mr.  Pitt  recom 
mended  to  be  paid,  but  at  this  time  (1792)  advised  no  compen 
sation  to  those  who  possessed  the  reversionary  interest.  But  it 
is  believed,  that  at  a  subsequent  period,  an  allowance  was 
made  to  nearly  or  quite  the  sum  originally  claimed. 

His  estate  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  in 
America  at  the  Revolution.  It  was  granted  May  8,  1681,  by 
Charles  the  Second  to  Thomas  Lord  Culpeper,  the  grandfather 
of  Lord  Thomas,  and  Lord  Robert  Fairfax,  on  a  "  rent  of 
£6.  13.  4  payable  as  therein  mentioned."  At  Lord  Culpeper's 
death  it  became  the  property  of  his  daughter,  the  Right  Hon 
orable  Catharine,  Lady  Fairfax,  who,  by  her  will  of  April  21, 
1719,  devised  the  whole  in  trust  thus :  "  Upon  trust  in  the 
first  place  by  mortgage,  a  sale  of  sufficient  part  of  the  estates 
thereby  devised,  to  raise  a  sufficient  sum  for  discharging  all 
her  debts,  legacies,  and  funeral  expenses;  and  after  such  mort 
gage  sale  and  disposition  ;  "  as  follows,  namely,  — 

"  To  the  use  of  her  eldest  son,  Thomas  Lord  Fairfax,  and 
his  assigns  for  life.  Remainder  to  the  first  and  other  sons  of 
said  Thomas  Fairfax,  in  tail  male.  Remainder  to  her  second 
son,  Henry  Culpeper  Fairfax,  and  his  assigns,  for  life.  Re 
mainder  to  the  first  and  other  sons  of  said  Henry  Culpeper 
Fairfax,  in  tail  male.  Remainder  to  her  third  son,  Robert 
Fairfax,  and  his  assigns,  for  life.  Remainder  to  trustees  to  pre 
serve  contingent  remainders.  Remainder  to  the  first  and  other 
sons  of  said  Robert  Fairfax,  in  tail  male.  Remainder  to  the 
daughters  of  the  said  testatrix,  as  tenants  in  common,  in  tail. 
Remainder  to  the  right  heirs  of  the  said  testatrix,  in  fee." 


280  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Such  was  the  tenure  of  the  Fairfax  estate  in  Virginia.  The 
magnitude  of  the  property,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
caused  an  unusual  degree  of  investigation  in  Parliament,  and 
Lord  Robert's  memorial  for  relief  was  the  subject  of  a  separate 
and  elaborate  report.  His  individual  loss,  if  computed  at  the 
value  of  his  life  interest,  was  less  than  that  of  several  of  the 
Loyalists  whose  property  was  confiscated ;  though  we  have 
seen  that  the  government  gave  him,  without  hesitation,  nearly 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  after  reducing  his  valuation  more 
than  a  quarter  part.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  estate  had 
been  granted  prior  to  the  Revolution,  upon  the  quit-rent 
system,  and  thus  a  part  of  its  value  had  been  transferred  to 
others.  Still  the  reversionary  interest  on  the  decease  of  Lord 
Robert,  which  the  committee  of  Parliament  fixed  at  a  sum 
equal  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars,  was  by  no  means 
extravagant,  even  if  the  worth  of  lands  at  that  period  be  alone 
considered. 

FAIRLEE,  JAMES.  In  July  1783  he  was  one  of  the  fifty-five 
Loyalists  who  petitioned  for  grant  of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia. 
See  Abijah  Willard. 

FALES,  DAVID.  Of  Dedham,  Massachusetts.  In  1763  he 
removed  to  Maine,  upon  the  Waldo  Patent,  and  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  town  of  Thomaston ;  where  he  practised 
as  a  physician,  taught  school,  and  surveyed  lands.  He  was 
also  employed  by  Mr.  Flucker,  the  secretary  of  Massachusetts, 
and  son-in-law  of  General  Waldo,  as  agent  of  lands  embraced 
in  the  Patent. 

FAIRWEATHER,  BENJAMIN,  JEDEDIAH,  and  THOMAS.  Settled  in 
New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  received  grants  of  lands. 
Thomas  died  at  Norton  in  that  Colony  in  1825,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  and  Elizabeth,  his  widow,  at  the  same  place, 
in  1846,  aged  seventy-nine.  Jedediah  died  at  Norton  in  1831, 
at  the  age  of  ninety -six. 

FALL,  THOMAS.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

FANNING,  BARCLAY.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
King's  American  Regiment. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  281 

FANNING,  DAVID.  He  was  an  officer  under  the  crown  during 
the  war,  and  at  its  close  settled  in  New  Brunswick.  He  lived 
some  years  in  Queen's  County,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly ;  but  in  1799  removed  to  Nova  Scotia, 
where  he  was  a  colonel  in  the  militia.  He  died  at  Digby, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1825. 

FANNING,  HONORABLE  EDMUND.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was 
a  personage  of  considerable  note  in  that  Colony ;  and  respect 
able  men  aver,  that  he  was  remarkable  "for  all  the  vices  that 
degrade  the  most  abandoned  and  profligate  minion."  Among 
the  public  offices  which  he  held,  was  that  of  Recorder  of  Deeds 
for  the  County  of  Orange ;  and  it  is  alleged,  that  to  his  abuses 
in  this  capacity,  the  war  or  rebellion  of  the  Regulators  in 
Governor  Tryon's  administration  is,  in  a  good  measure,  to  be 
attributed.  The  averment  is,  that  by  his  vicious  character, 
"  nearly  all  the  estates  in  Orange  were  loaded  with  doubts  as 
to  their  titles,  with  exorbitant  fees  for  recording  new  and 
unnecessary  deeds,  and  high  taxes  to  support  a  government 
which  supported  his  wickedness."  This  charge  rests  on  very 
high  authority ;  and  during  the  war  of  the  Regulators  against 
the  royal  government,  neither  the  person  nor  property  of  Fan 
ning  were  respected.  His  losses  were  presented  to  the  Assem 
bly  by  Governor  Martin,  the  successor  of  Tryon,  but  that 
body  not  only  peremptorily  refused  to  consider  the  subject,  but 
administered  a  rebuke  to  the  Governor,  for  thus  trifling  "  with 
the  dignity  of  the  House.' '  It  is  not  impossible  that  his  un 
popularity  was  greater  than  his  offences  deserved;  since  neither 
the  members  of  the  Assembly,  nor  the  people  at  large,  were, 
at  this  juncture,  in  a  frame  of  mind  to  do  exact  justice  to  op 
ponents. 

Fanning  joined  Governor  Tryon,  who  was  his  father-in-law, 
in  New  York,  where  he  was  his  secretary.  In  1777  he  raised 
a  corps  of  four  hundred  and  sixty  Loyalists,  which  bore  the 
name  of  the  Associated  Refugees,  or  King's  American  Regi 
ment,  and  of  which  he  had  command.  To  aid  in  the  organi 
zation  of  this  body,  £500  was  subscribed  at  Staten  Island, 
£310  in  King's  County,  £219  in  the  town  of  Jamaica,  and 
24* 


282  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

£2000  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  1779  the  property  of 
Colonel  Fanning  in  North  Carolina  was  confiscated.  In  1782 
he  was  in  office  as  Surveyor-general  of  New  York.  He  went 
to  Nova  Scotia  near  the  close  of  the  war,  and  September  23d3 
1783,  was  sworn  in  as  Councillor  and  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
that  Colony.  About  the  year  1786  he  was  appointed  Lieuten 
ant  Governor  of  Prince  Edward's  Island ;  and  having  served 
nearly  nineteen  years,  was  succeeded  in  1805  by  Des  Barres, 
who  is  celebrated  for  his  charts  of  parts  of  the  American 
coast. 

FANNING,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

FANNING,  .  A  notorious  marauder,  of  considerable  tal 
ents,  but  brutal,  reckless,  and  sanguinary.  When  Marion,  the 
celebrated  Whig  partisan,  admitted  to  terms  Major  Gainey, 
and  a  band  of  Loyalists  of  Carolina  under  his  command,  Fan 
ning  was  specially  named  as  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  the 
arrangement.  But  both  he  and  his  wife  reached  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  which  was  in  possession  of  the  royal  troops, 
in  safety.  Previous  to  his  flight,  however,  he  made  a  fruitless 
attempt  to  reanimate  the  friends  of  the  crown  with  whom  he 
possessed  influence.  He  was  a  most  determined  enemy  of 
the  Whigs  and  their  cause. 

FANUEIL,  BENJAMIN.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  One  of  the  con 
signees  of  the  tea  which  was  destroyed  there  in  1773.  Went 
to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  thence  to  England. 

FARDO,  JOHN  GEORGE.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  held  a  royal 
commission  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

FARNSWORTH,  DANIEL.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished.  His  estate  was  confiscated. 

FARNSWORTH,  DAVID.  In  1778  he  was  tried  as  a  spy,  con 
victed  of  the  offence,  and  executed  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
on  the  10th  of  November.  A  large  amount  of  counterfeit  con 
tinental  money  was  found  in  his  possession. 

FARR&R,  WILLIAM.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England,  and 
was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  283 

FARROW,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

FELLING,  NICHOLAS.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 
Jacob  Felling,  of  that  County,  was  also  a  signer. 

FENTON,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  captain  in 
the  British  army,  but  disposing  of  his  commission,  settled  in 
New  Hampshire,  where  he  became  a  colonel  in  the  militia, 
clerk  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  Judge  of  Probate 
for  the  County  of  Grafton.  In  1775  he  was  also  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Assembly  for  the  town  of  Plymouth,  and  was 
expelled.  Enraged  at  the  indignity,  and  at  the  measures  of 
the  Whigs  generally,  he  gave  vent  to  his  passions,  and  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  people,  who  pursued  him  to  the  residence 
of  Governor  Wentworth  \vith  a  field  piece,  which  they  threat 
ened  to  discharge  unless  he  was  delivered  up.  Fenton  surren 
dered,  and  was  sent  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  at  Exeter  for 
trial.  "  Upon  a  full  hearing  of  sundry  compaints  against  " 
him  in  Provincial  Congress,  it  was  voted,  that  he  was  "  an 
enemy  to  the  liberties  of  America,"  and  that  he  should  "be 
confined  in  the  jail  at  Exeter,"  and  "be  supported  like  a 
gentleman,  at  the  expense  of  the  Colony,  until  further  orders." 
By  a  subsequent  vote  it  was  ordered,  that  his  place  of  confine 
ment  should  be  at  the  Whig  camp ;  but  he  was  finally  allowed 
to  escape,  and  to  go  to  England.  He  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished  under  the  act  of  1778. 

FENWICKE,  EDWARD.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  Congratu- 
lator  of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In 
1782  his  estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished.  He 
was  opposed  to  the  measures  of  the  ministry  in  1774,  since 
he  was  in  London  that  year,  and  joined  Franklin,  Lee,  and 
other  patriots  then  in  England,  in  a  remonstrance  against  the 
passage  of  the  Bill  for  the  Government  of  Massachusetts 
Bay. 

FENWICKE,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  commis 
sion  under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  was  ban 
ished,  and  lost  his  estate. 


284  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

FERGUSON,  HENRY.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  was  an 
ensign  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion. 

FERGUSON,  HENRY.  Held  a  commission  under  the  crown  in 
South  Carolina,  and  lost  his  estate. 

FERGUSON,  HENRY  HUGH.  Of  Pennsylvania.  During  the  war 
he  was  made  a  commissary  of  prisoners.  His  wife  was 
Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Doctor  Graeme,  the  Colonial  Col 
lector  of  Philadelphia,  and  grand-daughter  of  Sir  William 
Keith,  one  of  the  proprietary  Governors  of  Pennsylvania; 
and  her  name  is  connected  with  one  of  the  most  memorable 
incidents  of  the  Revolution.  In  1778,  after  the  British  Com 
missioners  arrived  in  America,  and  had  entered  upon  their 
duty  of  attempting  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the 
mother  country  and  the  Colonies,  Governor  Johnstone,  who 
was  one  of  them,  became  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Ferguson, 
and  engaged  her  to  offer  General  Joseph  Reed  of  Pennsylvania 
a  bribe.  The  answer  of  the  Whig  was  this:  "I  am  not 
worth  purchasing,  but  such  as  I  am,  the  King  of  Great 
Britain  is  not  rich  enough  to  do  it."  The  offer  to  the  General 
was  £10,000  sterling,  and  any  office  in  the  Colonies  in  his 
majesty's  gift.  The  estate  of  Mr.  Ferguson  was  confiscated. 

FERGUSON,  JOHN.  Belonged  to  a  northern  State ;  settled  at 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783 ;  received  a  grant  of  land 
in  that  city,  and  became  a  merchant. 

FERRIS,  CALEB  and  JOSHUA.  Of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  Were  Protesters  against  Whig  Congresses  and  Com 
mittees,  in  1775 ;  the  latter  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city ;  and  George, 
and  Peter,  were  the  same. 

FERRIS,  JOSEPH.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  He  raised  a 
company,  joined  Colonel  Butler,  and  was  a  captain  in  the 
Rangers.  During  the  war  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  brother- 
in-law  who  was  a  Whig,  but  escaped  from  captivity.  After 
the  peace  he  went  to  Newfoundland,  but  removed  to  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  settled.  He  was  fond  of  visits  to  the 
States  and  to  the  scenes  of  his  youth ;  and  sometimes  met 
those  whom  he  had  opposed  in  skirmishes  and  battles.  He 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  285 

lived  at  Eastport,  Maine,  after  it  was  captured  by  the  British 
forces  in  the  war  of  1812,  but  returned  to  New  Brunswick  on 
its  being  surrendered  to  the  United  States.  He  died  at  Indian 
Island,  New  Brunswick,  in  1836,  aged  ninety-two.  He  en 
joyed  half-pay  from  the  close  of  the  Revolution  until  his 
decease,  a  period  of  fifty-three  years. 

FEWTRELL,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  a  Judge  of 
the  Superior  Court;  and  was  permitted  to  depart  from  the 
State. 

FIELD,  NEHEMIAH.  A  pilot,  of  Delaware.  Was  required,  by 
the  act  of  1778,  to  surrender  himself  to  some  Judge  or  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  be  tried  for  his  treason  and  offences,  or 
surfer  the  loss  of  his  property. 

FIELD  WILLIAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  in  1775. 

FIELD,  WILLIAM,  and  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Guilford,  North  Caro 
lina  ;  and  Joseph,  of  some  other  section  of  the  State,  lost  their 
estates  under  the  confiscation  act  in  1779. 

FIELD.  Ten  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Philip,  Benjamin,  Gilbert,  Benjamin,  Robert,  Jacob,  Whit, 
David  or  Daniel,  Joseph,  James. 

FIELDS,  DANIEL,  GILBERT,  and  GEORGE.  Of  Wyoming,  Penn 
sylvania.  Were  required  in  1778,  by  proclamation  of  the 
Executive  Council,  to  surrender  themselves,  or  stand  attainted 
of  treason. 

FINCH,  HENRY.  He  died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1814. 

FINDLEY,  HUGH.  He  and  John  Foxcroft  were  the  two  Post 
masters-general  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  and  were  continued 
at  the  head  of  that  department  until  1782,  certainly,  and 
probably  until  the  peace. 

FINNEY,  FRANCIS.  Laborer,  of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  arid  banished  in  1778. 

FISH.  Eight  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance  in  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Samuel,  Lorance,  Jesse,  Ambrose,  Jonathan,  John,  Jonathan, 
Samuel. 


286  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

FISHER,  JABEZ  MAUD.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Went  to  England, 
and  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779. 

FISHER,  COLONEL  JOHN.  Of  Orangeburgh,  South  Carolina. 
Held  a  commission  under  the  crown ;  was  banished,  and  lost 
his  estate  under  the  act  of  1782. 

FISHER,  JOHN.  Naval-officer,  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire.  Salary,  derivable  from  fees,  £200  per  annum.  Was  pro 
scribed  by  the  act  of  New  Hampshire  of  1778.  It  is  believed, 
that  this  is  the  gentleman  who  was  in  the  Customs  at  Salem ; 
who  was  brother-in-law  of  Sir  John  Wentworth,  the  last  royal 
governor  of  New  Hampshire ;  and  who,  on  going  to  England, 
was  employed  as  secretary  to  Lord  George  Germaine. 

FISHER,  JOHN.  Cabinet-maker,  of  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  was 
banished,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the  act  of  1782. 

FISHER,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  received  a  grant  of  land. 

FISHER,  MIARS,  SAMUEL,  and  THOMAS.  Of  Philadelphia.  Were 
apprehended  in  that  city  in  1777,  and  confined ;  but  were  sent, 
subsequently,  prisoners  to  Virginia. 

FISHER,  TURNER.  Of  Boston.  Son  of  Wilfred  Fisher.  He 
accompanied  the  British  troops  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  and, 
entering  the  royal  navy,  became  a  sailing-master.  After  the 
Revolution,  he  married  Esther,  the  daughter  of  Ezekiel  Foster, 
of  Machias,  Maine,  and  settled  in  New  Brunswick.  He  was 
in  Boston  about  the  time  of  the  war  of  1812,  but  his  subse 
quent  fate  is  unknown  to  his  family.  His  son,  Wilfred  Fisher, 
Esquire,  is  a  highly  respectable  merchant  and  magistrate  of 
the  island  of  Grand  Menan,  New  Brunswick.  His  wife  died 
in  November,  1844,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years,  at  the 
residence  of  her  son. 

FISHER,  WILFRED.  Of  Boston.  At  the  evacuation  of  that 
town,  he  accompanied  the  British  troops  to  Halifax,  where  he 
received  an  appointment  which  attached  him  to  a  corps  of 
light-horse.  He  died  at  Halifax  before  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  was  proscribed  and  banished  under  the  act  of  1778,  and 
his  estate  in  Boston  was  confiscated.  His  son  Wilfred  was  a 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


287 


Whig,  and  a  ship-master.  Captured  hy  the  British,  he  was 
carried  to  New  York,  and  died  there  a  prisoner,  during  the 
Revolution. 

FITCH,  SAMUEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished.  He  held  the  office  of  Solicitor  or 
Counsellor  at  Law  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners ;  and,  like 
most  of  his  official  associates,  was  included  in  the  conspiracy 
act  of  1779.  He  went  to  England,  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser 
of  the  king  in  1779,  and  was  abroad  in  1783. 

FITCH,  THOMAS.  Of  Connecticut.  He  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1721,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the 
law.  He  held  the  offices  of  Councillor,  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court,  and  Lieutenant  Governor;  and  in  1754  was  elected 
Governor.  These  various  stations  he  filled  with  unsurpassed 
integrity  and  wisdom.  His  legal  knowledge  is  said  to  have 
equalled,  and  perhaps  exceeded,  that  of  any  other  lawyer  of 
Connecticut  during  the  period  of  her  Colonial  history.  In 
1765  he  took  the  oath  of  office  prescribed  in  the  Stamp  Act, 
and  was  driven  into  retirement  in  consequence  the  next  year ; 
having  occupied  the  Executive  chair  for  the  whole  period 
between  1754  and  1766.  His  successor  was  the  Honorable 
William  Pitkin. 

Copy  of  Inscription  on  the  Monument  of  Governor  Fitch,  at 
Norwalk,  Connecticut.  "  The  Hon'ble  Thomas  Fitch,  Esq., 
Gov.  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut.  Eminent  and  distin 
guished  among  mortals  for  great  abilities,  large  acquirements, 
and  a  virtuous  character :  a  clear,  strong,  sedate  mind :  an 
accurate  extensive  acquaintance  with  law,  and  civil  govern- 
ernment :  a  happy  talent  of  presiding :  close  application,  and 
strict  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  important  truths :  no  less  than 
for  his  employments,  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  in  the  chief 
offices  of  state,  and  at  the  head  of  the  colony/  Having  served 
his  generation,  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  asleep,  July  18,  Ann. 
Domini,  1774,  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age." 

FITZPATRICK,  NATHANIEL.  Was  an  officer  of  infantry  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers. 


288  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

FITZSIMMONS,  PETER.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

FJTZSIMONS,  CHRISTOPHER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780;  was  banished, 
and  his  property  was  confiscated  in  1782. 

FLEMING,  JOHN.  In  1775  he  was  seized  at  Long  Island, 
New  York,  sent  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Sutton. 

FLEMING,  JOHN.  Printer,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  by  the  act  of  1778.  He  was  copartner  with  Mien. 
Some  of  the  books  which  they  printed  had  a  false  imprint, 
and  were  palmed  off  as  London  editions,  because  Mien  said, 
that  books  thus  published  met  with  a  better  sale.  In  1767 
they  commenced  the  Boston  Chronicle,  a  paper  which,  in  the 
second  year  of  its  publication,  espoused  the  royal  cause,  and 
became  extremely  abusive  of  numbers  of  the  most  respectable 
Whigs  of  Boston.  To  avoid  the  effects  of  popular  resent 
ment,  Mien  thought  fit  to  leave  the  country.  The  Chronicle 
was  the  first  paper  published  twice  a  week  in  New  England; 
and  was  suspended  in  1770.  Fleming  found  it  prudent  to 
retire  from  Boston  in  1773,  and  embarked  for  England  in  that 
year  with  his  family.  He  came  to  the  United  States  more 
than  once,  subsequent  to  1790.  as  the  agent  of  a  commercial 
house  in  Europe.  His  residence  was  in  France  for  some 
years,  and  he  died  there. 

FLETCHALL,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  a  Colonel, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force  of  Loyalists  in  that 
State,  during  the  difficulties  with  the  Cunninghams  in  1775  ; 
and  signed  the  truce  or  treaty  which  was  agreed  upon  be 
tween  the  Whigs  and  their  opponents.  After  the  surrender  of 
Charleston,  he  was  in  commission  under  the  crown.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  confiscated.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  person 
of  much  consideration  in  South  Carolina,  previous  to  the 
Revolution ;  and  to  have  been  regarded  as  of  rather  doubtful, 
or  undecided  politics,  though  the  Whigs  made  him  a  member 
of  an  important  standing  Committee,  raised  with  the  design  of 
carrying  out  the  views  of  the  Continental  Congress. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  289 

FLETCHER,  DUNCAN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment. 

FLEWELLING,  ABEL  and  MORRIS.  Of  New  York.  Settled  in 
New  Brunswick  at  the  peace,  and  were  grantees  of  lands  in 
St.  John.  Abel  became  a  magistrate,  and  died  at  Maugerville 
in  1814,  aged  sixty-eight.  For  James  Flewelling,  see  Richard 
Smith. 

FLINT,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

FLOYD,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Brookhaven,  Suffolk  County,  New 
York.  In  1775  he  circulated  a  paper  for  signatures,  to  sup 
port  the  royal  authority,  in  opposition  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Whigs,  and  obtained  the  names  of  about  one  hundred  persons. 
He  was  a  major  in  the  New  York  militia. 

FLOYD,  MATTHEW.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

FLOYD,  RICHARD.  In  1782  was  quartermaster  of  De  Lan- 
cey's  Third  Battalion. 

FLOYD,  RICHARD.  Of  New  York.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Honorable  Richard  Floyd,  a  colonel  of  New  York  militia,  a 
Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and  a  gentleman  of  wealth  and 
reputation.  His  wife  was  Arrabella,  a  daughter  of  Judge  David 
Jones,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  His  children  were 
Elizabeth,  Anne,  and  David  Richard.  The  latter,  in  pursu 
ance  of  the  will  of  Judge  Jones,  and  by  legal  authority, 
adopted  the  name  of  Jones ;  he  died  in  1826,  leaving  two 
sons,  to  wit:  Brigadier  General  Thomas  Floyd  Jones,  and 
Major  General  Henry  Floyd  Jones.  Mr.  Floyd's  estate  was 
confiscated;  and  abandoning  the  country,  he  died  at  St.  John. 
New  Brunswick.  His  family  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  in 
New  York,  and  is  distinguished  in  its  annals.  Descended 
from  the  same  ancestor  was  the  Whig  General  William  Floyd, 
who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  Floyds 
were  of  Welsh  origin,  and  the  first  of  the  name  emigrated  in 
1654,  and  settled  at  Brookhaven,  Long  Island,  where  many  of 
his  descendants  continued  until  the  Revolution. 
25 


290  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

FLUCKER,  THOMAS.  Secretary  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
Mandamus  Councillor,  was  banished,  and  his  estate  confis 
cated.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  there  suddenly  early  in 
1783.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  General  Waldo,  proprietor 
of  the  Waldo  Patent  in  Maine.  His  daughter  married  the 
Whig  chief  of  artillery,  General  Henry  Knox,  and  inherited  a 
considerable  share  of  her  grandfather's  domain  on  the  Penob- 
scot  river  and  bay. 

FLUCKER,  THOMAS,  Junior.  Of  Massachusetts.  Son  of 
Thomas  Flucker.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1773,  and  in  the  Revolution  was  an  officer  in  the  British 
service. 

FLYNN,  THOMAS.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  American 
Regiment. 

FOISSIN,  ELIAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  commis 
sion  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confiscated. 

FOLKER,  JOHN.  Was  quartermaster  of  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

FOLLIOT,  GEORGE.  Of  New  York.  He  was  elected  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Provincial  Congress  for  the  City  and  County  of 
New  York,  in  1775,  but  declined  serving,  and  the  vacancy 
was  filled  in  June  of  that  year.  He  was  also  appointed  a 
member  of  the  committee  of  one  hundred,  but  refused  to  act. 
For  his  adherence  to  the  crown,  his  estate  was  confiscated. 

FONDA,  JOHN.  Of  Try  on,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  In  1775  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

FORBES,  GILBERT.  Gunsmith,  of  Broadway,  New  York. 
In  1776  he  was  arrested  and  put  in  irons,  on  the  charge  of 
being  concerned  in  the  Plot  of  certain  adherents  of  the  crown 
to  murder  a  number  of  Whig  officers,  to  blow  up  the  maga 
zine,  &c.  When  told  that  he  had  Jbut  a  short  time  to  live,  he 
asked  to  be  carried  before  Congress,  and  said  he  would  confess 
all  he  knew. 

FORD,  JOHN.  Of  New  Jersey.  Compelled  to  leave  his  resi 
dence  to  avoid  the  Whigs  who  molested  him,  he  fled  to  the 
royal  forces  on  Staten  Island,  where  he  remained  some  years. 
In  1783  Sir  Guy  Carleton  commissioned  him  to  take  charge  of 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  291 

a  company  of  Loyalists,  who  were  emigrating  from  New  York 
to  Nova  Scotia.  He  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot ;  but  removed  to  Hampton,  and 
became  one  of  the  best  farmers  in  that  Colony.  He  died  at 
Hampton  in  1823,  aged  seventy-seven. 

FOREMAN,  ALEXANDER.  Tailor,  of  Delaware.  In  1778  it 
was  declared  by  law,  that  his  property  would  be  forfeited  to 
the  State  unless  he  surrendered  himself  for  trial  for  treason,  on 
or  before  August  1st  of  that  year. 

FORREST,  JAMES.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax.  He  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

FORRESTER,  GEORGE  PEABODY.  Died  at  Hampton,  King's 
County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1840,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

FORRESTER,  JOHN.  Was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

FORRESTER,  JOSEPH,  At  the  peace,  was  one  of  the  grantees 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  In  1795  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Loyal  Artillery  of  that  city.  He  died  while  at  Boston  in 
1804,  aged  forty-six. 

FOSKIE,  BRIAN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

FOSTER,  EDWARD,  and  EDWARD,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  Black 
smiths.  Went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  in  1778  both  were  pro 
scribed  and  banished.  The  senior  Edward  was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  in  his  religious  faith  a  Sandema- 
nian.  The  father  and  son  died  in  Union,  Maine.  There  is  a 
tradition  that,  while  the  royal  army  occupied  Boston,  one  or 
both  of  them  assisted  to  make  a  quantity  of  horse  shoes  with 
three  erect  prongs,  which  were  distributed  all  over  the  "Neck," 
for  the  purpose  of  wounding  cavalry,  should  the  rebels  venture 
to  make  an  attack. 

FOSTER,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  A  soldier  in  Colonel 
Malcolm's  Regiment;  deserted  to  the  royal  side,  and  was  tried 
for  the  offence  in  1778.  The  common  punishment  for  this 
crime  was  death,  but  as  Foster  was  a  young  man,  he  was 
only  sentenced  to  receive  one  hundred  lashes  on  his  bare  back. 


292  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

FOSTER,  FREDERICK.  Residence  unknown.  Settled  in  New 
Brunswick,  and  died  on  the  island  of  Grand  Menan  in  1834, 
aged  seventy-four. 

FOSTER,  THOMAS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Ac 
knowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

FOSTER,  THOMAS,  Esquire.  Of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts. 
He  represented  that  town  in  the  General  Court  several  years ; 
and  in  1765  instructions  were  furnished  him  to  govern  his 
course  on  the  exciting  questions  of  the  time.  Aside  from  his 
political  preferences,  he  was  esteemed  by  his  townsmen  for  his 
attention  and  fidelity  to  the  municipal  and  civil  concerns  in 
trusted  to  his  care.  His  father,  Deacon  John  Foster,  was  also 
a  representative  from  Plymouth,  and  pursued  an  independent 
line  of  conduct  in  that  relation,  never  accepting  of  executive 
favors.  His  son  Thomas  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Univer 
sity,  and  instructed  a  school  at  Plymouth.  His  grandson 
Thomas,  was  an  officer  of  a  bank  at  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  died  there  in  1808,  aged  fifty-eight.  Branches  of 
this  family  settled  in  Middleborough  and  Kingston,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  in  Norfolk,  Virginia.  Mr.  Foster  accompanied 
the  British  army  to  Halifax  in  1776,  on  the  evacuation  of 
Boston. 

FOTHERINGHAM,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 

FOWLE,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Address 
er  of  Hutchinson  in  1774.  Jacob  Fowle,  of  that  town,  was 
the  same. 

FOUGHT,  GEORGE.  Of  New  York.  He  went  to  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1823,  aged  eighty-three. 

FOUNTAIN,  JOHN.  Died  at  Deer  Island,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1829,  aged  eighty -five. 

FOUNTAIN,  STEPHEN.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  He  ar 
rived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife,  in  1783,  in 
the  ship  Union. 

FOULTS,  CHRISTIAN.  Of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779 ;  he  is  styled  Colonel  in  the 
statute. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  293 

FOWLE,  ROBERT.  Served  an  apprenticeship  with  his  uncle, 
Daniel  Fowle,  of  Portsmouth,  and  "became  his  partner  in  the 
publication  of  the  New  Hampshire  Gazette,  the  only  news 
paper  in  New  Hampshire  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  As  the  nephew  was  a  Loyalist,  and  the  uncle  a  Whig, 
their  connexion  terminated  in  1774;  when  Robert  established 
himself  as  a  printer  at  Exeter.  The  new  paper  currency,  which 
he  printed,  having  been  counterfeited  soon  after,  suspicion 
rested  on  him  as  a  participant  in  the  crime;  and  his  flight  to 
the  British  lines  in  New  York,  and  thence  abroad,  served  to 
confirm  the  impression.  Some  years  after  the  peace  he  re 
turned  to  the  United  States,  married  the  widow  of  his  younger 
brother,  and  lived  in  New  Hampshire  until  his  decease.  His 
father  was  John  Fowle,  first  a  silent  partner  of  Rogers  and 
Fowle,  of  Boston,  and  subsequently  an  Episcopal  clergyman  at 
Norwalk,  Connecticut.  The  firm  of  Rogers  and  Fowle  printed 
the  first  edition  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  English  lan 
guage  which  was  published  in  this  country.  Robert,  the 
subject  of  this  notice,  received,  witft  other  refugees,  a  pension 
from  the  British  government. 

FOWLE,  ROBERT  L.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished,  and  his  estate  was  confiscated. 

FOWLER,  CALEB.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign 
in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment.  He  settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick  ;  received  half-pay,  and  died  on  the  river  St.  John. 

FOWLER,  CALEB.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  He 
was  one  of  the  Loyalist  Protesters  at  White  Plains,  April, 
1775,  who  denounced  Whig  Congresses  and  Committees,  and 
who  pledged  themselves  "at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  and 
properties,  to  support  the  King  and  Constitution."  He  entered 
the  royal  service,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  Loyal  American 
Regiment.  At  the  peace  he  retired  to  New  Brunswick  on  half- 
pay.  He  died  near  Fredericton. 

FOWLER.     Besides  the  above,  were  George,  of  Westchester 

County,  New  York,  who  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in 

1775  ;  and  John,  Thomas,   and  David,  of  the  same  County, 

who  acknowledged  allegiance  in  1776 ;  and  John,  of  Massa- 

25* 


294  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

chusetts,  who,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  children, 
arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the 
spring  of  1783.  Of  those  whose  places  of  residence  are  un 
known,  were  William,  who  was  a  captain,  arid  Gilbert,  who 
was  an  ensign  in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment ;  Gabriel, 
who  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died  in  that  Col 
ony  in  1832,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five ;  Daniel,  who  boasted 
of  being  a  firm  Loyalist,  who  settled  in  the  same,  and  died  in 
King's  County  in  1813,  aged  sixty-five ;  Henry,  who  died  in 
King's  County  in  1843,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven;  and  James, 
who  also  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the  peace,  and  was  a 
grantee  of  a  lot  in  the  city  of  St.  John. 

FOXCROFT,  JOHN.  One  of  the  two  Postmasters-general  of 
the  crown  in  the  thirteen  Colonies ;  and  was  nominally  in 
office  in  the  year  1782,  and  probably  until  the  close  of  the 
contest.  After  Galloway  retired  to  England,  he  became  a 
correspondent. 

FRANKLIN,  WILLIAM.  The  only  son  of  Doctor  Franklin,  and 
the  last  royal  governor  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  born  about 
the  year  1731.  He  served  as  Postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  and 
as  clerk  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the 
French  war  he  was  a  captain,  and  gained  praise  for  his  con 
duct  at  Ticonderoga.  About  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to 
England  with  his  father,  and  visiting  Scotland,  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  celebrated  Earl  of  Bute,  who  recommended 
him  to  Lord  Fairfax.  The  latter,  without  the  solicitation  of 
himself  or  his  father,  gave  him  the  appointment  of  Governor 
of  New  Jersey  in  1763.  For  a  time,  Governor  Franklin  en 
joyed  considerable  popularity.  His  first  dispute  with  the 
Assembly  appears  to  have  been  caused  by  his  course  in  rela 
tion  to  the  removal  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Colony,  who  was  a 
defaulter.  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  a  thorough  monarchist 
from  settled  principle,  and  that  he  viewed  the  sentiments  and 
conduct  of  his  father  with  the  most  determined  disapprobation ; 
and  it  is  certain,  that  no  adherent  of  the  crown  in  America 
was  more  firm  and  zealous  in  his  measures  to  prevent  concert 
and  union  among  the  Whigs. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  295 

Some  extracts  from  his  letters  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  in  1774, 
will  show  the  state  of  feeling  in  New  Jersey,  and  his  own 
opinions  upon  the  condition  of  public  affairs.  On  the  31st  of 
May,  he  said:  "Since  my  last  I  have  received  two  circular 
despatches  from  Mr.  Pownall,  dated  March  10th  and  April 
6th,  enclosing  copies  of  his  Majesty's  message  to  both  Houses 
of  Parliament  relative  to  the  late  disturbances  in  America 
respecting  the  port  of  Boston.  The  latter  has  been  published 
in  the  usual  manner,  though  the  people  in  that  Colony  are  not 
concerned  in  carrying  on  any  commerce  with  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.  It  is  difficult  as  yet  to  foresee  what  will 
be  the  consequence  of  the  Boston  Port  Act.  It  seems  as  if  the 
merchants  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  at  their  late  meet 
ings,  were  inclined  to  assist  or  co-operate  with  those  of  Boston, 
in  some  degree,  but  not  to  carry  matters  so  far  as  to  enter  into 
a  general  non-importation  and  exportation  agreement,  as  was 
proposed  to  them  by  the  town  of  Boston.  However,  I  believe 
it  may  be  depended  upon,  that  many  of  the  merchants,  on 
the  supposition  that  a  non-importation  agreement  (so  far  as 
respects  from  Great  Britain)  will  be  certainly  entered  into  by 
next  autumn,  have  ordered  a  much  greater  quantity  of  goods 
than  common  to  be  sent  out  by  the  next  fall  ships  from  Eng 
land.  A  Congress  of  members  of  the  several  Houses  of 
Assembly  has  been  proposed  in  order  to  agree  upon  some 
measures  on  the  present  occasion ;  but  whether  this  expedient 
will  take  place,  is  yet  uncertain.  The  Virginia  Assembly, 
some  time  ago,  appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  to 
correspond  with  all  the  other  Assemblies  on  the  Continent, 
which  example  has  been  followed  by  every  other  House  of 
Representatives.  I  was  in  hopes  that  the  Assembly  of  this 
Province  would  riot  have  gone  into  the  measure;  for  though 
they  met  on  the  10th  of  November,  yet  they  avoided  taking 
the  matter  into  consideration,  though  frequently  urged  by 
some  of  the  members,  until  the  8th  of  February,  and  then  I 
believe  they  would  not  have  gone  into  it,  but  that  the  Assem 
bly  of  New  York  had  just  before  resolved  to  appoint  such  a 
Committee,  and  they  did  not  choose  to  appear  singular." 


296  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

On  the  llth  of  June,  1774,  the  Whigs  of  Essex  County 
met  in  Convention,  and  adopted  various  resolutions  expressive 
of  their  sentiments  on  the  alarming  state  of  affairs,  which  gave 
Governor  Franklin  much  uneasiness.  Seven  days  after,  in 
transmitting  Lord  Dartmouth  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  he 
remarked,  that  the  meeting  in  that  County  "  was  occasioned 
it  seems  by  an  advertisement,  requesting  the  attendance  of  the 
inhabitants  on  that  day,  and  published  in  one  of  the  New 
York  papers,  and  signed  by  two  gentlemen  of  the  law,  who 
reside  in  that  County.  I  have  likewise  had  an  application 
made  to  me  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  August 
next,  with  which  I  have  not,  nor  shall  not  comply,  as  there  is 
no  public  business  of  the  Province  which  can  make  such  a 
meeting  necessary.  It  seems  now  determined  by  several  of 
the  leading  men,  in  most,  if  not  all  the  Counties  of  this  Pro 
vince,  to  endeavor  to  follow  the  example  of  the  freeholders  in 
Essex.  Meetings  of  this  nature  there  are  no  means  of  pre 
venting,  where  the  chief  part  of  the  inhabitants  incline  to 
attend  them.  I  as  yet  doubt,  however,  whether  they  will 
agree  to  the  general  non-importation  from  Great  Britain,  which 
has  been  recommended." 

In  January,  1775,  Governor  Franklin  met  the  Assembly. 
A  considerable  part  of  his  speech  is  devoted  to  the  controversy 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country,  and  to  warn 
ings  to  the  members  against  imitating  the  example  of  those 
whose  course  of  conduct  was  likely  to  involve  the  country  in 
afflictive  calamities.  "It  is  not  for  me  to  decide,"  said  he, 
"on  the  particular  merits  of  the  dispute,  nor  do  I  mean  to  cen 
sure  those  who  conceive  themselves  aggrieved,  for  aiming  at  a 
redress  of  their  grievances  ;  it  is  a  duty  they  owe  themselves, 
their  country,  and  their  posterity."  But  in  the  manner  of 
seeking  redress,  he  adds,  there  are  "two  roads,  one  evidently 
leading  to  peace,  happiness,  and  a  restoration  of  the  public 
tranquillity,  the  other  inevitably  conducting  you  to  anarchy, 
misery,  and  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war."  He  concluded  his 
speech  thus:  "But  it  is,  says  one  of  the  wisest  of  men,  a 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


297 


most  infallible  symptom  of  the  dangerous  state  of  liberty, 
when  the  chief  men  of  a  free  country  show  a  greater  regard  to 
popularity  than  to  their  own  judgment." 

The  Representatives  made  a  caustic  reply,  which  drew  from 
Franklin  the  following :  — 

"Gentlemen:  —  Were  I  to  give  such  an  answer  to  your 
Address  as  the  peculiar  nature  of  it  seems  to  require,  I  should 
be  necessarily  led  into  the  explanation  and  discussion  of  sev 
eral  matters  and  transactions,  which,  from  the  regard  I  bear  to 
you  and  the  people  of  this  Colony,  I  would  far  rather  have 
buried  in  oblivion.  It  is,  besides,  in  vain  to  argue  on  the  sub 
ject,  as  you  have,  with  a  most  uncommon  and  unnecessary 
precipitation,  given  your  entire  approbation  to  that  destructive 
mode  of  proceeding  which  I  so  earnestly  warned  you  against. 
Whether,  after  such  a  resolution,  the  Petition  you  mention  can 
be  reasonably  expected  to  produce  any  good  effect ;  and 
whether  you  or  I  have  best  consulted  the  true  interests  of  the 
people  on  this  important  occasion,  I  shall  leave  others  to  de 
termine.  You  may  be  assured,  however,  that  the  advice 
which  I  gave  you  was  totally  uninfluenced  by  any  sinister 
motive  whatever.  It  came  from  a  heart  sincerely  devoted  to 
my  native  country,  whose  welfare  and  happiness  depend,  as  I 
conceive,  upon  a  plan  of  conduct  very  different  from  what  has 
been  hitherto  adopted." 

The  Governor  and  the  Assembly  parted  in  bad  temper.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  reduce  his  Excellency's  salary  from 
£1200  to  £1000,  and  in  appropriating  £60  for  the  payment  of 
the  rent  of  his  house,  the  condition  that  he  should  reside  either 
at  Perth,  Amboy  or  Burlington  was  annexed  to  the  grant.  His 
situation  was  unhappy.  All  intercourse  between  himself  and 
his  father  had  now  been  suspended  for  more  than  a  year  ;  and 
he  was  involved  in  a  helpless  quarrel  with  the  delegates  and 
the  people  of  New  Jersey. 

On  the  13th  of  February  he  prorogued  the  Assembly.  In  a 
letter  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  dated  on  the  first  of  that  month, 
which  was  published  in  the  Parliamentary  Register,  it  was 
alleged  that  he  said:  "  At  the  opening  of  the  session,  I  had 


298  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

some  hopes  of  prevailing  on  the  House  of  Representatives  not 
to  approve  of  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Congress  held  at 
Philadelphia,  for  which  purpose  a  paragraph  of  my  Speech 
was  particularly  calculated;  but  the  Delegates  from  this  Pro 
vince  took  the  alarm,  and  used  their  utmost  endeavors  with 
the  members  to  persuade  them  to  give  their  approbation  to 
those  proceedings,  as  otherwise  one  grand  end  the  Congress 
had  in  view  would  be  entirely  frustrated ;  namely,  the  pre 
serving  an  appearance  of  unanimity  throughout  the  Colonies, 
without  which,  they  said,  their  measures  could  not  have  that 
weight  and  efficacy  with  the  Government  and  people  of  Great 
Britain,  as  was  intended.  The  scheme,  however,  met  with 
some  opposition  in  the  House,  every  member  proposing  to 
defer  the  consideration  of  it  to  a  future  time,  or  to  give  their 
approbation  to  only  some  parts  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Con 
gress  ;  but  by  the  artful  management  of  those  who  espoused 
the  measure,  it  was  carried  through  precipitately  the  very 
morning  it  was  proposed,  as  your  Lordship  will  see  by  a  copy 
of  their  Resolutions  now  enclosed,  which  were  all  previously 
prepared  for  the  purpose." 

This  letter,  as  above  quoted,  was  laid  before  the  House  of 
Commons  on  the  third  of  March,  by  Lord  North :  and  when 
the  Assembly  of  New  Jersey  met  in  the  following  month  of 
May,  a  message  was  sent  to  the  Governor  requesting  him  to 
inform  that  body  whether  it  was  genuine,  or  whether  it  con 
tained  the  substance  of  any  letter  which  he  had  written  rela 
tive  to  the  measures  adopted  at  the  last  session  of  the  Assem 
bly.  In  his  answer,  he  explicitly  denies  its  authenticity,  and 
that  no  similar  sentiments  had  been  uttered  by  him  in  any 
communication  to  the  king's  ministers.  But  his  message  of 
reply  is  bitter  and  uncompromising  throughout.  "  It  has  been 
my  unhappiness  almost  every  session  during  the  existence  of  the 
present  Assembly,"  — is  the  opening  remark,  — "  that  a  major 
ity  of  the  members  of  the  House  have  suffered  themselves  to 
be  persuaded  to  seize  on  every  opportunity  of  arraigning  my 
conduct,  or  fomenting  some  dispute,  let  the  occasion  be  ever  so 
trifling,  or  let  me  be  ever  so  careful  to  avoid  giving  any  just 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


299 


cause  of  offence.  This,  too,  has  been  done  with  such  an 
eagerness  in  the  promoters  of  it,  as  can  only  be  accounted  for 
on  a  supposition  that  they  are  either  actuated  by  unmanly 
private  resentment,  or  by  a  conviction  that  their  whole  polit 
ical  consequence  depends  upon  a  contention  with  their  Gov 
ernor."  He  concludes  this  ill-natured  document  with  saying, 
that  those  who  knew  him  best  would  do  him  the  justice  "to 
allow  that  no  office  of  honor  in  the  power  of  the  Crown  to 
bestow  would  ever  influence  him  to  forget  or  neglect  the  duty 
he  owed  his  country,  nor  the  most  furious  rage  of  the  most 
intemperate  zealots  induce  him  to  swerve  from  the  duty  he 
owed  his  Majesty." 

The  Assembly  was  prorogued  on  the  20th  of  May,  (and  on 
the  day  of  transmitting  this  answer),  to  meet  on  the  20th  of 
June  following;  but  affairs  had  now  reached  a  crisis,  and 
Governor  Franklin  never  communicated  with  that  body  again. 
Three  days  after  the  prorogation,  the  first  Provincial  Congress 
of  New  Jersey  commenced  their  session  at  Trenton,  and  the 
royal  government  soon  ceased  to  be  respected,  and  to  exist.  A 
constitution  was  adopted  in  July,  1776,  and  William  Living 
ston,  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress,  became 
Franklin's  successor. 

The  deposed  representative  of  royalty  was  declared  to  be  an 
enemy  to  his  country,  and  ordered  to  be  sent  a  prisoner  to 
Connecticut.  He  was  accordingly  placed  in  the  custody  of  a 
a  guard  commanded  by  a  captain,  who  had  orders  to  deliver 
him  to  Governor  Trumbull.  The  officer  in  charge  halted  at 
Hackensack,  and  was  rebuked  by  Washington  for  his  delay. 
The  Commander-in-chief  was  of  the  opinion,  from  circum 
stances  communicated  to  him,  that  the  fallen  Governor  de 
signed  to  effect  his  escape ;  that  his  refusal  to  sign  the  parole 
proposed  by  the  Whig  Convention  of  New  Jersey,  and  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Franklin  which  had  been  intercepted,  afforded 
sufficient  reasons  for  the  exercise  of  great  watchfulness  and 
care. 

It  appears  that  he  was  indulged  in  selecting  the  place  of  his 
confinement,  and  that  he  made  choice  of  Connecticut.  He 


300 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


was  conveyed  to  East  Windsor,  and  quartered  in  the  house  of 
Captain  Ebenezer  Grant,*  In  1777  he  requested  liberty  to 
visit  his  wife,  who  was  a  few  miles  distant  and  sick.  In  reply, 
he  received  the  following  letter. 

"  Head  Quarters,  July  25th,  1777. 

"  Sir,  —  I  have  this  moment  received  yours  of  the  22d  inst. 
hy  express.  I  heartily  sympathize  with  you  in  your  distressing 
situation;  but,  however  strong  my  inclination  to  comply  with 
your  request,  it  is  by  no  means  in  my  power  to  supersede  a 
positive  Resolution  of  Congress,  under  which  your  present 
confinement  took  place.  I  have  enclosed  your  letter  to  them ; 
and  shall  be  happy,  if  it  may  be  found  consistent  with  pro 
priety,  to  concur  with  your  wishes  in  a  matter  of  so  delicate 
and  interesting  a  nature.  I  sincerely  hope  a  speedy  restora 
tion  of  Mrs.  Franklin's  health  may  relieve  you  from  the 
anxiety  her  present  declining  condition  must  naturally  give 
you. 

"  I  am,  with  due  respect, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"G.  WASHINGTON." 

Congress  declined  to  allow  the  Governor  to  visit  his  wife, 
and  he  continued  at  East  Windsor.  This  lady  was  born  in 
the  West  Indies ;  it  is  said  that  she  was  much  affected  by  the 
severity  of  Doctor  Franklin  to  her  husband  while  he  was  a 
prisoner.  She  died  in  1778,  in  her  forty-ninth  year,  and  it  is 
inscribed  on  the  monumental  tablet  erected  to  her  memory  in 
St.  Paul's  Church,  New  York,  that,  "  Compelled  to  part  from 
the  husband  she  loved,  and  at  length  despairing  of  the  sooth 
ing  hope  of  his  speedy  return,  she  sunk  under  accumulated 
distresses,"  &c. 

In  1778,  after  the  arrival  in  America  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton, 
an  exchange  was  effected,  and  Governor  Franklin  was  re- 

*  This  building  is  still  (1844)  standing;  it  is  near  the  Theological  Semi 
nary. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  301 

leased.  Little  seems  to  be  known  of  his  proceedings  during 
the  remainder  of  the  war.  He  served  for  a  short  period  as 
President  of  the  Board  of  Loyalists  which  was  organized  in 
New  York  ;  but  soon  went  to  England. 

The  adherents  of  the  crown  were  greatly  alarmed  at  the 
distinction  made  between  themselves  and  other  subjects,  in  the 
articles  of  capitulation  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  and  Frank 
lin  wrote  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  who  was  then  secretary  for 
the  American  department,  on  the  subject.  His  Lordship,  in 
answer,  stated  that  "  the  alarm  taken  by  the  loyal  Refugees  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,"  and  that,  by  command  of  his  Majesty, 
he  had  directed  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  make  the  strongest  assu 
rances  for  their  "  welfare  and  safety." 

In  West's  picture  of  the  "Reception  of  the  American  Loyal 
ists  by  Great  Britain,  in  the  year  1783  "  ;  Governor  Franklin 
and  Sir  William  Pepperell  are  the  prominent  personages  repre 
sented,  and  are  placed  at  the  head  of  the  group  of  figures ; 
the  first  (in  the  words  of  the  description  or  explanation)  is  a 
"  son  of  Doctor  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  having  his  Majesty's 
commission  of  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  preserved  his  fidelity 
and  loyalty  to  his  Sovereign  from  the  commencement  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  contest,  notwithstanding  powerful  incite 
ments  to  the  contrary."  * 

In  1784,  the  father  and  son,  after  an  estrangement  of  ten 
years,  became  reconciled  to  one  another.  The  son  appears  to 
have  made  the  first  overture.  Doctor  Franklin,  in  acknowl 
edging  the  receipt  of  his  letter,  says  in  reply,  on  the  16th  of 
August  of  that  year;  "I  am  glad  to  find  that  you  desire  to 
revive  the  affectionate  intercourse  that  formerly  existed  be 
tween  us.  It  will  be  very  agreeable  to  me ;  indeed  nothing 
has  ever  hurt  me  so  much,  and  affected  me  with  such  keen 
sensations,  as  to  find  myself  deserted  in  my  old  age  by  my 
only  son ;  and  not  only  deserted,  but  to  find  him  taking  up 
arms  against  me  in  a  cause  wherein  my  good  fame,  fortune, 

*  For  the  remainder  of  the  description  of  this  picture,  see  notice  of  Sir 
William  Pepperell. 

26 


302  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  life,  were  all  at  stake.  You  conceived,  you  say,  that 
your  duty  to  your  king  and  regard  for  your  country  required 
this.  I  ought  not  to  blame  you  for  differing  in  sentiment  with 
me  in  public  affairs.  We  are  all  men,  subject  to  errors.  Our 
opinions  are  not  in  our  power ;  they  are  formed  and  governed 
much  by  circumstances,  that  are  often  as  inexplicable  as 
they  are  irresistible.  Your  situation  was  such,  that  few 
would  have  censured  your  remaining  neuter,  though  there  are 
natural  duties  which  precede  political  ones,  and  cannot  be  ex 
tinguished  by  them.  This  is  a  disagreeable  subject ;  I  drop  it. 
And  we  will  endeavor,  as  you  propose,  mutually  to  forget 
what  has  happened  relating  to  it,  as  well  as  we  can." 

The  Doctor,  I  conclude,  was  never  able  to  forget,  entirely, 
the  alienation  which  had  happened  between  them.  Since  in 
his  Will,  which  is  dated  June  23,  1789,  nearly  five  years  after 
this  letter,  and  a  few  months  previous  to  his  own  decease,  he 
thus  remembers  his  son  William,  late  Governor  of  the  Jerseys. 

"I  give  and  devise  all  the  lands  I  hold  or  have  a  right  to  in 
the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  to  hold  to  him,  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever.  I  also  give  to  him  all  my  books  and  papers 
which  he  has  in  his  possession,  and  all  debts  standing  against 
him  on  my  account-books,  willing  that  no  payment  for,  nor 
restitution  of,  the  same  be  required  of  him  by  my  executors. 
The  part  he  acted  against  me  in  the  late  war,  which  is  of 
public  notoriety,  will  account  for  my  leaving  him  no  more  of 
an  estate  he  endeavored  to  deprive  me  of." 

Though  the  part  he  acted  against  his  father  was  of  pub 
lic  notoriety,  rumors  reached  the  ears  of  the  commission 
ers  of  Loyalist  claims,  that  the  disagreement  between  the 
Doctor  and  his  son  had  been  collusive,  and  was  more  politic 
than  sincere ;  and  the  Governor  was  accordingly  required  to 
exhibit  proofs  of  his  loyalty  and  uniform  attachment  to  the 
royal  cause.  The  commissioners  themselves,  probably,  enter 
tained  no  doubts  on  the  subject,  but  examined  the  charge  to 
satisfy  the  public,  and  to  relieve  the  accused  from  what  they 
believed  to  be  an  unfounded  imputation. 

Among  the  witnesses  who  testified  in  his  favor  was  Sir 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  303 

Henry  Clinton.  He  made  a  schedule  of  his  losses,  which  were 
by  no  means  considerable.  Indeed,  Governor  Franklin  must 
have  been  poor.  His  personal  estate  was  valued  at  only 
£1,800,  which  sum  the  commissioners  allowed  him.  He  had 
several  shares  in  back  lands  and  grants,  but  as  he  was  in 
debted  to  his  father,  and  had  conveyed  to  him  all  his  real 
property  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  the  loss  of  his  office 
and  its  emoluments,  and  the  £1,800  above  mentioned,  com 
prised  the  principal  items  in  his  account,  and  for  which  he 
claimed  compensation. 

The  commissioners  were,  however,  impressed  with  the 
hardship  of  his  case,  and  made  a  special  report,  in  which 
they  recommended  an  allowance  of  £300  per  annum  in  addi 
tion  to  £500  yearly  pension  previously  granted  to  him,  as 
being  half  the  value  of  his  salary  and  fees  in  America. 
Governor  Franklin  continued  in  England  during  the  re 
mainder  of  his  life.  He  enjoyed  a  pension,  and  it  is  believed, 
of  the  amount  of  £800  per  annum.  He  died  in  November, 
1813,  at  the  age  of  about  eighty- two  years.  Some  years  after 
the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he  married  a  lady  who  was  born 
in  Ireland.  His  son,  William  Temple  Franklin,  who  edited 
the  works  of  Doctor  Franklin,  died  at  Paris,  in  May,  1823. 

FRAZER,  FRANCIS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  captain  in 
the  Guides  and  Pioneers. 

FRAZER,  JAMES.  A  physician,  of  South  Carolina.  Held  a 
commission  under  the  crown,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the 
confiscation  act  of  17b2.  A  Doctor  James  Frazer  died  at 
Charleston,  in  1803,  —  probably  the  same. 

FRAZER,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Was  born  in  Scotland,  emi 
grated  to  New  York  some  years  prior  to  the  Revolution ;  went 
to  Nova  Scotia  at  the  peace,  and  died  at  Shelburne  in  1840, 
aged  eighty-eight. 

FRAZER,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Surgeon  of  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers. 

FRAZER,  LEWIS.  Residence  unknown.  Settled  in  New 
Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died  in  King's  County  in  1835,  aged 
seventy-two ;  Mary  Harkley  Frazer,  his  widow,  who  was 


304  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  died  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1836,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 

FRAZER,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  major  of  the 
South  Carolina  Loyalists. 

FREEMAN,  LEWIS.  Was  a  cornet  in  the  King's  American 
Dragoons. 

FREER,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

FRENCH,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  He  accepted  a  commission 
in  De  Lancey's  First  Battalion,  and  in  1782  was  a  captain. 
He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  was  the 
grantee  of  a  city  lot,  and  received  half-pay.  He  settled  in 
the  County  of  York,  and  was  a  magistrate  for  several  years. 
He  died  in  that  County  in  1820,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

FRENCH,  JOSEPH.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  He  was  elected 
to  the  Provincial  Congress  in  1775,  but  declined  to  take  his 
seat  on  the  ground  that  the  majority  of  the  freeholders  of 
that  town  were  opposed  to  being  represented  in  that  body. 
In  1777,  Jamaica  contributed  £219  to  a  corps  of  Loyalists 
raised  in  New  York  at  the  instance  of  Governor  Tryon, 
which  sum  passed  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  French.  In 
1780  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  Robertson. 

FRENCH,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  a  cap 
tain  in  De  Lancey's  First  Battalion. 

FRENCH, .  A  Loyalist  in  arms,  and  of  some  note.  He 

was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Bennington. 

FREY,  BARENT.  Of  New  York.  He  was  an  officer  in  the 
royal  service,  and  was  engaged  with  Brant,  and  a  band  of 
Indians  and  Tories,  in  devastating  the  country  on  the  Mo 
hawk. 

FREY,  HENDRICK.  Of  New  York.  He  served  the  crown 
during  the  war,  and  was  a  major.  After  the  peace  he  returned 
to  his  native  State.  In  1797  he  and  Brant  met  at  Canajoharie, 
where,  at  a  tavern,  "  they  had  a  merry  time  of  it  during  the 
live  long  night.  Many  of  their  adventures  were  recounted, 
among  which  was  a  duel  that  had  been  fought  by  Frey,  to 
whom  Brant  acted  as  second."  The  meeting  of  the  Chief  and 
the  Major,  is  described  as  "like  that  of  two  brothers." 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  305 

FREY,  PHILIP  R.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  He  entered  the  military  service  of  the  king,  and 
was  an  ensign  in  the  eighth  regiment.  He  was  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Wyoming.  He  died  at  Palestine,  Montgomery 
(formerly  Tryon)  County,  in  1723.  His  son,  Samuel  C.  Frey, 
settled  in  Upper  Canada,  and  communicated  particulars  of 
the  sanguinary  scenes  at  Wyoriiing,  for  Colonel  Stone's  use  in 
writing  his  Life  of  Brant.  The  testimony  of  the  Freys  is, 
that  Brant  was  not  present  with  Butler  at  Wyoming,  and  this, 
according  to  the  son,  the  father  steadily  maintained  through 
life. 

FRIDAY,  DAVID.     Of  South  Carolina.     Estate  confiscated. 

FRINK,  NATHAN.  He  was  born  at  Pomfret,  Connecticut.  He 
entered  the  British  military  service,  and  was  a  captain  of 
cavalry  in  the  American  Legion,  and  aid-de-camp  to  Arnold 
after  his  treason,  and  was  engaged  in  the  burning  of  New 
London.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
where  he  remained  several  years,  but  removed  to  St.  Andrew, 
and  finally  to  St.  Stephen,  in  the  same  Colony.  He  died  at 
the  latter  place,  December  4,  1817,  aged  sixty  years.  His 
wife,  Hester,  died  at  St.  Stephen,  February  22,  182-1,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five.  His  sister  Alida  married  Schuyler,  the 
oldest  son  of  General  Israel  Putnam.  Seven  children  survived 
him.  His  son  James  is  a  magistrate  and  ship-owner  of  St. 
Stephen,  and  married  Martha  G.  Prescott,  a  niece  of  Roger 
Sherman.  Captain  Frink  was  educated  for  the  bar.  In  New 
Brunswick  he  was  a  merchant  and  ship-owner;  and  a  magis 
trate  of  Charlotte  County  for  about  thirty  years.  He  received 
half-pay  as  an  officer.  His  family  connexions  in  the  United 
States  are  highly  respectable.  It  is  believed,  that  his  political 
sympathies  were  originally  adverse  to  the  royal  cause,  and 
that  less  intolerance  on  the  part  of  his  Whig  neighbors  and 
friends,  would  have  produced  a  different  line  of  conduct  on 
his  part. 

FRISBY,  JAMES.    Was  a  captain  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists. 

FRYE,  PETER.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1744.  He  was  representative  to  the 
26* 


306  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

General  Court,  and  being  a  member  in  1768,  was  a  Rescinder. 
He  was  also  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Register 
of  Probate,  and  Colonel  of  militia  in  the  County  of  Essex. 
His  name  appears  among  the  Salem  Addressers  of  Gage,  June, 
1774.  He  died  in  England,  February,  1820,  aged  ninety- 
seven  years.  The  first  husband  of  his  daughter  Love,  was 
Doctor  Peter  Oliver,  a  Massachusetts  Loyalist ;  and  her 
second  was  Admiral  Sir  John  Knight  of  the  British  navy. 
Lady  Knight  died  at  her  seat  near  London  in  1839. 

FULLER,  GEORGE.     Of  South  Carolina.     Estate  confiscated. 

FULTON,  JAMES.  Of  New  Hampshire.  In  1778  he  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
American  Dragoons.  James  Fulton,  Esquire,  a  magistrate  in 
the  County  of  Halifax,  died  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1826. 

FURLONG,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  infantry 
in  the  American  Legion. 

FURMAN,  JOSEPH.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a 
Declaration  against  the  Whigs,  January,  1775. 

FURNER,  EDWARD.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  It  was 
ordered  in  Council  in  1778,  that  he  surrender  himself  for  trial 
or  stand  attainted.  Morris  Furner,  of  Wyoming,  was  included 
in  the  same  proclamation. 

FYFFE,  CHARLES.  A  physician,  of  South  Carolina.  He  was 
in  office  under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  in  1780. 
Estate  confiscated. 

GABEL,  JOHN.  Was  one  of  the  first  of  the  Loyalists  who 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1816,  aged 
eighty-four. 

GAILLARD,  JOHN  and  THEODORE.  Of  South  Carolina.  Were 
both  members  of  the  Provincial  Congress  in  1775,  and  were 
then,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  Whigs.  But  in  1780  they  held 
commissions  under  the  crown,  and  lost  their  estates  under  the 
confiscation  act  of  1782. 

GAINE,  HUGH.  Printer  and  Bookseller,  of  New  York ;  and 
publisher  of  the  New  York  Mercury.  Died  April  25,  1807, 
aged  eighty-one  years.  His  political  creed  seems  to  have  con- 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  307 

sisted  of  but  one  article,  and  that  —  to  keep  with  the  strongest 
party.  At  first  he  was  a  Whig,  and  when,  in  1776,  the  Brit 
ish  troops  were  about  to  take  possession  of  New  York,  he 
retreated  with  his  press  to  Newark ;  but,  in  the  belief  that  the 
Whigs  would  be  subdued  and  the  Revolution  suppressed,  he 
soon  after  privately  withdrew  from  Newark,  and  returned  to 
New  York,  where  he  printed  under  the  protection  of  the  king's 
army,  and  devoted  the  Mercury  to  the  support  of  the  royal 
cause.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  he  petitioned  the  legis 
lature  of  the  State  for  liberty  to  remain  in  the  city,  which  was 
granted ;  but  he  discontinued  the  publication  of  his  paper, 
and  turned  his  attention  to  the  printing  and  selling  of  books. 
He  occupied  a  stand  in  Hanover  square  more  than  forty  years, 
and  by  close  application  to  business,  regularity  and  punctual 
ity,  he  acquired  a  handsome  estate.  As  a  citizen,  he  was 
moral  and  highly  respectable.  As  a  politician,  his  unstable 
course  excited  several  poetical  essays  from  a  wit  of  the  time ; 
among  them,  is  a  versification  of  his  petition  to  the  new  gov 
ernment  already  alluded  to,  of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty 
lines.  The  writer's  manner  may  be  judged  of  by  the  follow 
ing  extract.  After  relating  the  evils  of  his  sojourn  at  Newark, 
Gaine  is  made  to  speak  thus  of  his  return  to  New  York,  and 
taking  part  with  the  Loyalists. 

"  As  matters  have  gone,  it  was  plainly  a  blunder, 
But  then  I  expected  the  Whigs  must  knock  under, 
And  I  always  adhere  to  the  sword  that  is  longest, 
And  stick  to  the  party  that 's  like  to  be  strongest : 
That  you  have  succeeded  is  merely  a  chance, 
I  never  once  dreamt  of  the  conduct  of  France  !  — 
If  alliance  with  her  you  were  promised  —  at  least 
You  ought  to  have  showed  me  your  star  in  the  East, 
Not  let  me  go  off  uninformed  as  a  beast. 
When  your  army  I  saw  without  stockings  or  shoes, 
Or  victuals  or  money  —  to  pay  them  their  dues, 
Excepting  your  wretched  congressional  paper, 
That  stunk  in  my  nose  like  the  snuff  of  a  taper,"  &c. 

GALBREATH,  JAMES.     Was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's  First 
Battalion. 


308  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

GALE,  SAMUEL.  Of  New  York.  In  1775  he  was  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  joined  Cruger  and  others,  in 
the  recess  that  year,  in  a  letter  to  General  Gage  at  Boston. 
He  is  alluded  to  in  McFingal. 

GALE,  .     Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Cumberland  County, 

New  York.  During  the  difficulties  between  the  Whigs  and 
Loyalists  of  Cumberland  in  1775,  —  as  particularly  related  in 
the  notice  of  W.  Patterson,  Esquire,  —  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  conducted  with  wisdom  or  decorum.  According  to  the 
account  of  the  affair  drawn  up  by  the  Whig  Committee,  he 
drew  a  pistol  upon  the  multitude,  who  asked  for  a  parley,  and 

exclaimed,   "d  —  n  the  parley  with  such  d d  rascals  as 

you  are"  ;  and  holding  up  his  weapon,  added,  "I  will  hold  no 

parley  with  such  d d  rascals,  but  this."     Collision  soon 

followed,  and  human  life  was  taken. 

GALLISON,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

GALLOP,  ANTILL.  Embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax,  with  the 
British  army,  in  1776. 

GALLOPP,  WILLIAM.  He  settled  in  Charlotte  County,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  magistrate.  He  died  in  that  County 
about  the  year  1806. 

GALLOWAY,  JOSEPH.  He  was  a  son  of  Peter  Galloway,  and 
was  born  in  Maryland  about  the  year  1730.  His  family  was  re 
spectable,  and  of  good  estate,  and  his  education  was  probably  the 
best  that  could  be  obtained  in  the  Middle  Colonies.  He  went 
early  in  life  to  Philadelphia,  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law,  became  eminent  in  his  profession,  and  held  many  impor 
tant  trusts.  He  married  the  daughter  of  the  Honorable  Law 
rence  Growdon,  who  was  for  a  long  period  Speaker  of  the 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  by  which  connexion  he  enjoyed  a 
considerable  fortune.  In  1764  Mr.  Galloway  was  a  member  of 
the  Assembly,  and  on  the  question  of  a  change  of  the  govern 
ment  from  the  proprietary  to  the  royal  form,  as  in  some  other 
Colonies,  made  an  able  speech  in  answer  to  the  celebrated 
Dickinson,  who  opposed  the  petition.  Both  speeches  were 
published.  Galloway  continued  in  the  Assembly  for  some 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  309 

years,  and  attained  the  Speakers  chair  of  that  body.  In  1774 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Whig  Congress  of  the  Conti 
nent,  and  took  his  seat,  and  was  an  active  participant  in  its 
leading  recommendations  and  measures.  On  the  28th  of  Sep 
tember  he  submitted  to  Congress  the  following  motion  and 
Plan. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  will  apply  to  his  Majesty  for 
a  redress  of  grievances,  under  which  his  faithful  subjects  in 
America  labor,  and  assure  him  that  the  Colonies  hold  in  ab 
horrence  the  idea  of  being  considered  independent  communi 
ties  on  the  British  Government,  and  most  ardently  desire  the 
establishment  of  a  political  union,  not  only  among  themselves, 
but  with  the  mother  state,  upon  those  principles  of  safety  and 
freedom  which  are  essential  in  the  constitution  of  all  free  Gov 
ernments,  and  particularly  that  of  the  British  Legislature. 
And  as  the  Colonies  from  their  local  circumstances  cannot  be 
represented  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  they  will  hum 
bly  propose  to  his  Majesty,  and  his  two  Houses  of  Parliament, 
the  following  Plan,  under  which  the  strength  of  the  whole 
Empire  may  be  drawn  together  on  any  emergency;  the  inter 
ests  of  both  countries  advanced ;  and  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  America  secured. 

"  A  plan  for  a  proposed  Union  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  Colonies  of  New  Hampshire,  the  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Maryland,  the  three  lower  Counties  on  the  Delaware, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 

"That  a  British  and  American  Legislature,  for  regulating 
the  administration  of  the  general  affairs  of  America,  be  pro 
posed  and  established  in  America,  including  all  the  said  Col 
onies  ;  within  and  under  which  Government  each  Colony 
shall  retain  its  present  Constitution  and  powers  of  regulating 
and  governing  its  own  internal  police  in  all  cases  whatever. 

"  That  the  said  Government  be  administered  by  a  President 
General  to  be  appointed  by  the  King,  and  a  Grand  Council,  to 
be  chosen  by  the  Representatives  of  the  people  of  the  several 
Colonies  in  their  respective  Assemblies,  once  in  every  three 
years. 


310  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

"That  the  several  Assemblies  shall  choose  members  for  the 
Grand  Council  in  the  following  proportions,  viz  :  [the 

Colonies  are  recited,  but  number  of  members  are  left  blank.] 

"Who  shall  meet  at  the  City  of  *  *  *  *  *  for  the  first 
time,  being  called  by  the  President  General,  as  soon  as  con 
veniently  may  be  after  his  appointment. 

"  That  there  shall  be  a  new  election  of  members  for  the 
Grand  Council  every  three  years;  and  on  the  death,  removal, 
or  resignation  of  any  Member,  his  place  shall  be  supplied  by 
a  new  choice  at  the  next  sitting  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Colony 
he  represented. 

"That  the  Grand  Council  shall  meet  once  in  every  year  if 
they  shall  think  it  necessary,  and  oftener,  if  occasions  shall 
require,  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  adjourn  to  at 
the  last  preceding  meeting,  or  as  they  shall  be  called  to  meet 
at,  by  the  President  General  on  any  emergency. 

"  That  the  Grand  Council  shall  have  power  to  choose  their 
Speaker,  and  shall  hold  and  exercise  all  the  rights,  liberties, 
and  privileges  as  are  held  and  exercised  by  and  in  the  House 
of  Commons  of  Great  Britain. 

"  That  the  President  General  shall  hold  his  office  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  King,  and  his  assent  shall  be  requisite  to  all 
Acts  of  the  Grand  Council,  and  it  shall  be  his  office  and  duty 
to  cause  them  to  be  carried  into  execution. 

"  That  the  President  General,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Grand  Council,  shall  hold  and  exercise  all  the 
Legislative  rights,  powers,  and  authorities,  necessary  for  reg 
ulating  and  administering  all  the  general  police  and  affairs  of 
the  Colonies,  in  which  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  or 
any  of  them,  the  Colonies  in  general,  or  more  than  one  Colony, 
are  in  any  manner  concerned,  as  well  civil  and  criminal  as 
commercial. 

"  That  the  said  President  General  and  Grand  Council  be 
an  inferior  and  distinct  branch  of  the  British  Legislature, 
united  and  incorporated  with  it  for  the  aforesaid  general  pur 
poses  ;  and  that  any  of  the  said  general  resolutions  may  origi 
nate,  and  be  formed  and  digested,  either  in  the  Parliament  of 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  311 

Great  Britain,  or  in  the  said  Grand  Council ;  and  being  pre 
pared,  transmitted  to  the  other  for  their  approbation  or  dissent; 
and  that  the  assent  of  both  shall  be  requisite  to  the  validity  of 
all  such  general  Acts  and  Statutes. 

"  That  in  time  of  war,  all  Bills  for  granting  aids  to  the 
Crown,  prepared  by  the  Grand  Council,  and  approved  by  the 
President  General,  shall  be  valid  and  passed  into  a  law  with 
out  the  assent  of  the  British  Parliament." 

No  disposition  seems  to  have  been  made  of  this  Plan.  On 
the  20th  of  October,  Congress  adopted  the  celebrated  measure 
of  "  Non-Importation,  Non-Consumption,  and  Non-Exporta 
tion,"  and  ordered  that  the  several  members  subscribe  their 
names  to  it.  The  signature  of  Mr.  Galloway  is  among  them ; 
and  his  name  is  to  be  found,  also,  to  the  Address  to  the  Inhab 
itants  of  the  Province  of  Quebec.  Near  the  close  of  the  ses 
sion  he  was  appointed,  with  Mr.  Adams  and  others,  to  revise 
the  minutes  of  Congress. 

No  man  in  Pennsylvania,  at  this  time,  was  more  in  favor 
with  the  popular  party.  In  the  attack  upon  the  proprietary 
rights,  he  had  been  regarded  the  leader ;  and  with  Franklin,* 
he  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  and  confidence.  His  disaffection 
or  disinclination  to  continue  in  the  public  councils  soon  became 
manifest.  By  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1775,  it  appears,  that 
"  Joseph  Galloway,  Esquire,  having  repeatedly  moved  in 
Assembly  to  be  excused  from  serving  as  a  Deputy  in  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  the  House  this  day  took  his  motion  in  con 
sideration,  and  do  hereby  agree  to  excuse  him  from  that  ser 
vice."  In  1776  he  abandoned  the  Whigs,  and  became  one  of 
the  most  virulent  and  proscriptive  Loyalists  of  the  time.  His 
former  friends  often  felt  the  force  of  his  powers,  and  the  evil 
effects  of  his  influence  with  the  agents  of  the  crown,  both  in 
America  and  England.  He  joined  the  royal  army  in  New 
York  soon  after  his  defection,  and  continued  there  until  June 

*  A  will  executed  by  Franklin,  some  years  prior  to  1784,  was  left  in  his 
care. 


312  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  1778.  His  only  daughter  accompanied  him  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  examined  before  the  House  of  Commons  as  to 
the  state  of  affairs  in  the  revolted  Colonies,  and  did  not  spare 
the  king's  generals.  Between  this  time  and  the  peace,  his  pen 
was  almost  constantly  employed  on  subjects  connected  with 
the  war,  and  its  management  on  the  part  of  officers  of  the 
crown.  In  addition  to  an  extensive  correspondence  with  Loy 
alists  who  continued  in  America,  he  published  observations  on 
the  conduct  of  Sir  William  Howe ;  a  letter  to  Howe  on  his 
naval  conduct ;  letters  to  a  nobleman  on  the  conduct  of  the 
war  in  the  Middle  Colonies ;  reply  to  the  observations  of  Gen 
eral  Howe ;  cool  thoughts  on  the  consequences  of  American 
Independence;  candid  examination  of  the  claims  of  Great 
Britain  and  her  Colonies;  and  reflections  on  the  American 
rebellion. 

His  estate,  which  he  valued  at  £40,000,  was  confiscated  by 
Pennsylvania,  in  pursuance  of  his  proscription  and  attainder. 
A  large  part  of  his  property  was  derived  from  his  wife,  and  a 
considerable  proportion  of  it  was  restored  finally  to  his  daugh 
ter,  and  is  still  possessed  by  his  descendants.  When  the  agency 
for  the  prosecuting  the  claims  of  the  Loyalists  to  compensa 
tion  was  formed,  Mr.  Galloway  was  appointed  a  member  of 
the  board  for  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.  But  his  own  pre 
tensions  to  consideration  were  disputed.  The  circumstance, 
that  he  had  been  a  Whig  and  a  member  of  the  first  Continen 
tal  Congress,  occasioned  a  jealousy  among  the  adherents  of 
the  crown,  who  had  never  changed  sides,  and  the  Commis 
sioners  made  a  minute  investigation  into  his  conduct.  They 
examined  numerous  witnesses,  among  whom  were  General 
Gage,  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  Sir  William  Howe;  and  they 
found  and  reported  him  to  be  "  an  active  though  not  an 
early  Loyalist,"  and  of  course  entitled  to  compensation.  A 
tract  attributed  to  him,  on  the  subject  of  the  Loyalist  Claims 
for  Losses,  was  published  in  1788;  from  which,  as  the  reader 
will  remember,  some  extracts  appear  in  the  preliminary  re 
marks  of  this  volume.  He  died  in  England,  September,  1803, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  313 

His  path  was  filled  with  vexations  and  troubles.  He  was  a 
politician  by  nature ;  and  he  had  many  qualities  indispensable 
to  success  in  political  life.  For  some  years  prior  to  the  Revo 
lution,  he  was  the  secret  or  open  mover  of  many  of  the  public 
issues  that  arose.  In  the  alienation  of  friends  he  was  unfortu 
nate.  In  1766  he  connected  himself  with  Goddard  and  Whar- 
ton.  in  publishing  a  newspaper  called  the  Pennsylvania  Chron 
icle.  By  the  terms  of  the  arrangement,  he  and  Wharton  were 
to  furnish  a  share  of  the  necessary  capital,  and  Goddard  was  to 
print  and  manage  the  concern.  And  it  is  a  singular  fact  con 
nected  with  this  matter,  that  the  articles  of  copartnership 
provided  for  the  admission  of  Franklin  as  a  partner,  should  he 
choose  to  join  them  on  his  coming  home  from  England,  where 
he  was  then  absent.  But  the  philosopher  never  availed  him 
self  of  the  opportunity;  the  three  partners  quarrelled,  separated 
on  the  worst  possible  terms3  and  Goddard  and  Galloway  filled 
the  public  prints  with  the  vilest> mutual  abuse.  The  difficulty 
reached  the  ears  of  Franklin,  and  he  thus  wrote  to  his  son 
William  from  London.  "I  cast  my  eye  over  Goddard's  piece 
against  our  friend,  Mr.  Galloway,  and  then  lit  my  fire  with  it. 
I  think  such  feeble,  malicious  attacks  cannot  hurt  him."  The 
events  of  a  few  years  produced  strange  changes  in  the  relations 
of  the  several  parties  here  spoken  of,  and  show  the  effects  of 
civil  war  in  a  most  striking  manner.  Galloway,  as  has  been 
said,  turned  Loyalist,  and  Franklin  renounced  him ;  while 
Goddard,  who  made  the  "feeble  and  malicious  attacks,"  was 
appointed  to  the  second  office  in  the  Continental  Post-office 
department,  when  Franklin  was  placed  at  its  head.  While, 
again,  Goddard,  soured  and  disaffected,  on  the  retirement  of 
Franklin  from  that  service,  because  he  was  not  named  to 
succeed  him,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Whigs,  and  was 
the  object  of  hate,  and  the  victim  of  mobs.  And  yet  again ; 
Franklin's  only  son,  the  royal  governor  of  New  Jersey,  also 
became  a  Loyalist;  which  entirely  alienated  his  father,  so 
that  there  was  no  intercourse  between  them  for  ten  years. 

Galloway,  after  deserting  the  Whigs,  was  the  mark  at  which 
many  writers  levelled  their  wit  and  their  anger.     Trumbull 
27 


314  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

says  of  him,  that  "  he  began  by  being  a  flaming  patriot,  but 
being  disgusted  at  his  own  want  of  influence,  and  the  greater 
popularity  of  others,  he  turned  Tory,  wrote  against  the  meas 
ures  of  Congress,  and  absconded,"  and,  that  "just  before  his 
escape,  a  trunk  was  put  on  board  a  vessel  in  the  Delaware,  to 
be  delivered  to"  him,  which,  on  opening,  "he  found  contained 
only,  as  Shakspeare  says, 

"  A  halter  gratis,  and  leave  to  hang  himself." 
Trumbull,  in  his  McFingal,  still  further  discourses  thus  :  — 

"  Did  you  not,  in  as  vile  and  shallow  way, 
Fright  our  poor  Philadelphian,  Galloway, 
Your  Congress,  when  the  loyal  ribald 
Belied,  berated  and  bescribbled  ? 
What  ropes  and  halters  did  you  send, 
Terrific  emblems  of  his  end, 
Till,  lest  he  'd  hang  in  more  than  effigy, 
Fled  in  a  fog  the  trembling  refugee  ?  " 

The  unhappy  Loyalist  deserved  all  that  was  said  of  him ; 
since  it  seems  improbable  that  he  changed  sides  from  convic 
tion,  and  from  justifiable  motives.  A  man  of  so  great  aptitude 
for  the  administration  of  affairs,  of  so  mature  judgment,  of 
so  much  political  experience,  of  so  penetrating  sagacity,  of 
powers  of  mind  that  led  his  fellows  in  masses,  can  hardly 
stand  excused,  upon  the  most  charitable  view  of  his  conduct 
that  is  possible. 

GALWAY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Conway,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

GAMBLE,  DAVID.  Belonged  to  the  Eighth  Pennsylvania  Reg 
iment,  but  deserted.  In  1778  he  was  tried  for  this  offence,  and 
for  having  in  his  possession  counterfeit  continental  money; 
and  was  sentenced  to  suffer  death. 

GAMBLE,  JAMES,  Of  North  Carolina.  Lost  his  estate  in 
1779,  under  the  confiscation  act. 

GAMBLE,  DOCTOR .  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 

and  received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot. 

GARDEN,  ALEXANDER.     Of  South  Carolina.     A  Congratulator 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  315 

of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  He  was  banished.  Doctor  Garden 
fitted  himself  for  professional  pursuits  at  Edinburgh.  He 
acquired  a  fortune.  He  was  much  devoted  to  the  study  of 
natural  history,  and  was  a  valuable  writer  in  that  branch  of 
science,  especially  in  botany.  He  went  to  England  in  1783, 
and  died  in  London  in  1791,  at  the  age  of  sixty- three  years. 
He  was  doctor  of  medicine  and  of  divinity,  and  a  fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society. 

GARDEN,  BENJAMIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent.  In  1775,  Colonel  Benjamin 
Garden  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress. 

GARDEN,  WILLIAM.  He  received  employment  under  the 
crown,  after  the  Revolution ;  and  at  the  time  of  his  decease 
was  assistant  deputy  commissary  general  of  the  garrison  at 
Fredericton,  New  Brunswick.  He  sank  under  the  pressure  of 
sickness  and  trouble ;  and  closed  his  life  in  the  County  of 
York,  New  Brunswick,  in  1812,  aged  sixty-three. 

GARDINER,  ALEXANDER.  Was  wharf  officer  at  Staten  Island, 
in  the  Superintendent  Department  established  at  New  York 
by  Sir  William  Howe. 

GARDINER,  GEORGE.  A  magistrate  of  the  County  of  Albany. 
Early  in  1775  he  stated  the  difficulties  of  exercising  his  offi 
cial  duties,  and  claimed  of  the  government  of  the  Colony  pro 
tection  from  the  apprehended  misdeeds  of  the  rioters  of  that 
section. 

GARDINER,  GEORGE,  HENRY,  and  JACOB.  Residence  unknown. 
Were  grantees  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

GARDINER,  SAMUEL.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  Was  a  loyal  Declarator  in  1775. 

GARDINER,  SYLVESTER.  He  was  born  in  Rhode  Island  in 
1717,  and  having  fitted  himself  for  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
England  and  France,  entered  upon,  and  pursued  a  successful 
professional  career  in  Boston.  He  acquired  great  wealth,  and 
purchased  extensive  tracts  of  land  in  Maine.  A  Loyalist  and 
a  Refugee,  he  abandoned  his  native  country  with  the  small 
sum  of  £400.  His  landed  estate,  consisting  of  about  one  him- 


316  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

dred  thousand  acres,  was  confiscated,  but  finally  restored  to  his 
heirs.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  both  Hutchinson  and  Gage. 
In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax  with  the  British  army.  His  name 
is  to  be  found  in  the  proscription  and  banishment  act  of  1778. 
He  returned  to  the  United  States  after  the  war,  and  died  at 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  August  8,  1786,  aged  sixty-eight. 
Previous  to  his  decease,  some  progress  was  made  in  settling 
his  domain  on  the  Kennebec.  Prior  to  the  Revolution,  he  built 
a  mill  on  the  Cobesseconte  at  Gardiner,  and  at  a  period  some 
years  later,  he  erected  an  Episcopal  church  in  the  same  town, 
which  was  burned  by  the  maniac,  McCausland.  Gardiner,  at 
this  time,  is  one  of  the  most  flourishing  towns  in  Maine; 
but  when  Robert  H.  Gardiner,  Esquire,  came  into  possession 
in  1803,  there  were  not  above  six  hundred  and  fifty  people 
within  its  limits. 

GARDNER,  GEORGE.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  settled  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  an  alderman  of  that  city. 

GARDNER,  HENRY.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  An  Address 
er  of  Gage  on  his  arrival  in  1774.  He  died  at  Maiden  in  1817, 
aged  seventy-one. 

GARNETT,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  in  London  in 
1779,  and  addressed  the  king.  Of  the  Massachusetts  family, 
I  conclude,  were  Patrick,  who  was  an  ensign  in  the  Prince  of 
Wales  American  Volunteers  ;  and  Joseph,  who  settled  in  New 
Brunswick,  was  Master  in  Chancery,  and  Deputy  Surrogate, 
and  died  in  St.  Andrew  in  1801, 

GARRISON,  JOHN.  He  became  an  inhabitant  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  As 
sembly  for  several  years.  His  end  was  sad.  He  died  on  the 
river  St.  John  in  1810.  Joseph  Garrison  died  at  Deer  Island, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1819,  aged  fifty. 

GARVEY,  PATRICK.  An  assistant  apothecary  in  the  Whig 
service.  He  was  suspected  of  conducting  an  illicit  trade  with 
the  royal  forces,  and  in  1780  was  detected  at  Philadelphia, 
and  committed  to  prison. 

GAWASON,  ABRAHAM,  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  317 

GAY,  MARTIN.  Founder,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775;  was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776.  I  sup 
pose  he  returned ;  a  gentleman  of  this  name  died  at  Boston 
in  1809,  aged  eighty-two.  Mr.  Gay  was  the  son  of  Reverend 
Doctor  Ebenezer  Gay,  of  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  who  died 
in  1787,  aged  ninety. 

GAY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  Son  of  Martin  Gay. 
He  was  born  in  Boston,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1775.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  he 
abandoned  his  native  country.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
where  he  held  several  important  public  stations.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  House  of  Assembly  organized  in  the  Colony, 
and  represented  the  County  of  Westmoreland  several  years. 
He  was  also  a  magistrate  of  that  County,  and  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  died  at  Fort  Cumberland, 
New  Brunswick,  (where  his  father  had  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  crown,)  January  21,  1847,  in  the  ninety-third  year  of  his 
age.  The  late  Honorable  Ebenezer  Gay  of  Hingham,  Massa 
chusetts,  was  his  brother. 

GAYNOR,  JAMES  and  PETER.  Were  grantees  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  James  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal 
Artillery  in  1795,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1823,  at  the  age  of 
seventy- two. 

GEAKE,  SAMUEL.  A  Whig  who  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
British,  corrupted,  and  induced  to  act  as  a  spy.  After  enter 
ing  the  service  of  the  enemy,  he  enlisted  among  his  former 
friends,  the  better  to  accomplish  his  purpose  of  betraying 
them.  His  designs  were  ascertained,  and  he  was  arrested 
in  1778,  tried  and  condemned  to  die.  He  confessed  his  crime, 
but  Washington  spared  his  life,  because  the  court  martial  that 
tried  him  was  irregularly  constituted,  and  because  his  tes 
timony  was  deemed  important  against  Hammell,  formerly 
brigade-major  to  General  James  Clinton,  who  had  also  entered 
into  treasonable  designs  with  the  British.  Geake,  according 
to  his  confession,  was  to  receive  a  commission  of  lieutenant  in 
27* 


318  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

a  corps  that  Hammell  was  to  command,  as  soon  as  it  could  be 
raised  from  deserters  from  the  American  army. 

GEAUBEAU,  ANTHONY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

GEUDES,  CHARLES.  Died  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1807, 
aged  fifty-six. 

GEIGER,  JACOB.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  commission  under 
the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

GEROW,  ANDREW.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

GERRISH,  MOSES.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1762.  In  the  Revolution,  he  was  attached 
to  the  commissary  department  of  the  royal  army.  After  the 
peace,  he  and  Thomas  Ross,  and  one  Jones,  obtained  License 
of  Occupation  of  the  island  of  Grand  Menan,  New  Brunswick, 
and  its  dependencies,  and  on  condition  of  procuring  forty  set 
tlers,  a  schoolmaster,  and  a  minister,  within  seven  years  from 
the  date  of  the  License,  were  to  receive  a  grant  of  the  whole 
from  the  British  crown.  They  commenced  the  settlement  of 
the  island,  and  sold  several  lots  in  anticipation  of  their  own 
title,  but  failed  to  fulfil  the  conditions,  and  did  not  obtain  the 
expected  grant.  Jones  returned  to  the  United  States,  but 
Gerrish  and  Ross  continued  at  Grand  Menan.  Gerrish  was 
an  able  man.  A  gentleman  who  knew  him  long  and  inti 
mately  remarks,  that  "he  would  spread  more  good  sense  on 
a  sheet  of  paper  than  any  person  of  my  acquaintance."  His 
powers  were  not,  however,  devoted  to  any  regular  pursuit. 
He  never  acquired  any  considerable  property,  "yet  always 
seemed  to  have  enough."  He  "  did  nothing,  yet  was  always 
about  something."  He  was  a  magistrate  at  Grand  Menan  for 
many  years,  and  until  his  decease  in  1830,  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years. 

GEYER,  FREDERIC  WILLIAM.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

GIBB,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the  New  York 
Volunteers. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  319 

GIBBENS,  EDWARD.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
ordered,  that  unless  he  appeared  and  took  his  trial  for  treason, 
he  should  stand  attainted. 

GIBBS,  JOHN  W.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  17SO.  Was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  was  confiscated. 

GIBBS,  ZACHARIAH.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown.  Estate  confiscated. 

GIDNEY.  Lieutenant  Isaac  Gidney,  and  John,  Caleb,  Jona 
than,  Joshua,  James,  Isaac,  Bartholomew,  Jacob,  Solomon, 
and  Joseph,  were  Protesters  at  White  Plains,  and  inhabitants 
of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 

GILBERT,  BRADFORD.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  Brother 
of  Thomas  Gilbert,  Junior.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  re 
ceived  the  grant  of  a  lot  in  the  city  of  St.  John.  In  1795  he 
was  a  member  of  the  St.  John  Loyal  Artillery,  and  in  1803  an 
alderman  of  the  city.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1814,  aged 
sixty-eight. 

GILBERT,  FRANCIS.  He  was  naval  officer  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  died  at  St.  John  in  1821,  aged  eighty-two. 

GILBERT,  PEREZ.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  Brother 
of  Bradford  Gilbert.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He 
settled  in  New  Brunswick  with  his  father  and  brothers ;  and 
died  in  that  Colony. 

GILBERT,  SA.MUEL.  Of  Berkley,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Colonel  Thomas  Gilbert,  and  went  with  him  to 
Halifax  in  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 
He  lived  in  New  Brunswick  for  a  time  after  the  Revolution, 
but  finally  returned  to  the  United  States. 

GILBERT,  THOMAS,  Junior.  Of  Berkley,  Massachusetts.  Son 
of  Francis  Gilbert.  He  fled  to  Boston  in  1775,  and  joined 
his  father ;  but  it  is  believed  did  not  accompany  him  to  Hali 
fax.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  During  the 
war  he  continued  with  the  royal  troops,  and  was  active  in 
his  endeavors  to  suppress  the  popular  movement.  He  settled 
in  New  Brunswick  after  the  war,  and  died  on  the  river 
St.  John. 


320  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

GILBERT,  THOMAS.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  His  an 
cestor  was  an  early  settler  in  Taunton.  John  Gilbert,  as  is 
supposed,  came  from  Devonshire,  England,  at  an  age  some 
what  advanced,  and  lived  first,  with  his  family,  at  Dorchester. 
He  died  previous  to  1654,  but  Winnifred,  his  widow,  was  then 
living.  He,  with  Henry  Andrews,  were  the  two  first  Repre 
sentatives  from  Taunton  to  the  General  Court  at  Plymouth  in 
1639.  His  sons,  Thomas  and  John,  removed  with  him  to 
Taunton,  and  were  among  the  first  proprietors  of  that  town. 
Of  Thomas,  Governor  Winthrop  gravely  records,  that, 

"8th  mo.  August  18,  1636:  Thomas  Gilbert  brought  be 
fore  us;  he  was  drunk  at  Serjeant  Baulson's,  and  the  Con 
stable  being  sent  for  he  struck  him.  He  was  kept  in  prison 
all  night,  and  the  next  day  his  father  John  Gilbert,  and  his 
brother  John  Gilbert  of  Dorchester,  undertook  in  £40  that 
John  Gilbert  the  younger  would  appear  at  Court  to  answer 
for  him,  and  perform  the  order  of  the  Court,  &c.  The  reason 
was,  that  he  was  to  go  to  England  presently,  and  not  known 
to  have  been  in  any  way  disordered,  and  was  his  father's 
oldest  son,  who  was  a  grave,  honest  gentleman,  (fee.  They 
did  undertake,  also,  that  he  should  acknowledge  his  fault 
openly  to  the  constable,  &c." 

Thomas  went  to  England  as  he  intended,  and  never  re 
turned,  but  died  there  in  1676.  His  wife,  Jane,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Hugh  Rossiter,  and  his  children,  remained  at 
Taunton.  His  marriage  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first 
that  occurred  in  that  town.  The  name  of  his  oldest  son  was 
Thomas,  who  was  the  immediate  ancestor  of  Thomas  Gilbert, 
the  Loyalist,  who  is  the  subject  of  this  notice,  and  who,  on 
his  mother's  side,  was  descended  from  Governor  William  Brad 
ford,  the  second  chief  magistrate  of  Plymouth  Colony.  In 
1745,  the  Thomas,  of  whom  we  are  now  to  speak,  was  a 
captain  at  the  memorable  siege  and  reduction  of  Louisburg, 
under  Sir  William  Pepperell.  In  the  French  war  of  1755,  he 
was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Massachusetts  forces  under 
Brigadier  General  Ruggles.  He  was  engaged  in  the  attempt 
against  Crown  Point ;  and  after  the  fall  of  Colonel  Ephraim 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  321 

Williams,  in  the  battle  with  the  French  under  Baron  Dieskau 
at  Lake  George,  he  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  regi 
ment. 

In  the  Revolutionary  controversy  he  took  an  early  and  de 
cided  stand  in  behalf  of  the  crown.  At  this  time  he  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  Justice  of  the 
Quorum,  and  a  Colonel  in  the  militia.  In  1774  a  large  body 
of  the  people  proceeded  to  Freetown,  to  desire  him  not  to 
accept  of  the  office  of  sheriff  under  the  new  laws,  and  to  in 
form  him,  that  if  he  acted  under  the  commission  which  it  was 
reported  he  had  received,  he  "  must  abide  by  the  consequen 
ces."  Soon  after  he  was  at  Dartmouth;  and  a  party  of  about 
a  hundred  assaulted  the  house  in  which  he  was  a  lodger;  but 
with  the  help  of  the  family  he  prevented  their  entrance.  In 
the  autumn  of  1774  the  commotions  in  Bristol  County  had 
become  so  great,  that  an  armed  force  was  deemed  requisite  by 
General  Gage,  to  keep  the  people  in  subjection  to  the  king's 
authority;  and  at  his  request,  Colonel  Gilbert  raised  and  com 
manded  a  body  of  three  hundred  Loyalists.  In  March,  1775, 
he  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Honorable  James  Wallace, 
Esquire,  commander  of  His  Majesty's  ship  Rose,  Newport, 
which  was  intercepted,  and  which  appears  to  have  been 
the  second  addressed  by  him  to  that  officer. 

"  Honorable  Sir :  —  Since  writing  the  lines  on  the  21st  by 
Mr.  Phillips,  many  insults  and  threats  are,  and  have  been 
made  against  those  soldiers  which  have  taken  our  arms  and 
train,  and  exercise  in  the  King's  name ;  and  on  Monday  next 
the  Captains  muster  at  the  south  part  of  the  Town,  when  we 
have  great  reason  to  fear  thousands  of  the  rebels  will  attack 
them,  and  take  our  lives,  or  the  King's  arms,  or  perhaps  both. 
I,  Sir,  ask  the  favor  of  one  of  His  Majesty's  Tenders,  or  some 
other  vessel  of  force  might  be  at  or  near  Bowers',  in  order  if 
any  of  our  people  should  be  obliged  to  retreat,  they  may  be 
taken  on  board.  Nothing  but  the  last  extremity  will  oblige 
them  to  quit  the  ground. 

"I  am  your  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  THOMAS  GILBERT." 


322 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


These  proceedings  attracted  immediate  attention,  and  pro 
duced  great  indignation.  In  April,  1775,  the  Congress  of 
Massachusetts  unanimously  declared,  that  "  Colonel  Thomas 
Gilbert  is  an  inveterate  enemy  to  his  country,  to  reason,  to 
justice,  and  the  common  rights  of  mankind,"  and,  that  "  who 
ever  had  knowingly  espoused  his  cause,  or  taken  up  arms  for 
its  support,  does,  in  common  with  himself,  deserve  to  be 
instantly  cut  off  from  the  benefit  of  commerce  with,  or  counte 
nance  of,  any  friend  of  virtue,  America,  or  the  human  race/' 
These  words  are  explicit  enough ;  and  contain  as  full  and  as 
comprehensive  denunciation,  as  can  be  found  in  the  records 
of  any  deliberative  body  during  the  controversy.  And  Con 
gress,  in  further  speaking  of  him,  use  the  term — "Gilbert 
and  his  banditti." 

A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  these  resolutions  of  bitter 
censure,  Colonel  Gilbert  fled  to  the  Rose,  which  vessel  was 
still  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and  thence  to  Boston.  On  the 
4th  of  May,  1775,  he  wrote  to  his  sons,  from  Boston,  thus :  — 

"On  the  27th  of  April,  I  left  the  ship,  took  passage  on 
board  a  packet  sloop  on  the  first  instant,  in  health  arrived 
here,  where  I  expect  to  stay  till  the  rebels  are  subdued,  which 
I  believe  will  not  be  long  first,  as  the  ships  and  troops  are 
daily  expected.  My  greatest  fears  are,  you  will  be  seduced 
or  compelled  to  take  arms  with  the  deluded  people.  Dear 
sons,  if  these  wicked  sinners,  the  rebels,  entice  you,  believe 
them  not,  but  die  by  the  sword  rather  than  be  hanged  as 
rebels,  which  will  certainly  be  you  fate  sooner  or  later  if  you 
join  them,  or  be  killed  in  battle,  and  will  be  no  more  than  you 
deserve.  I  wish  you  in  Boston,  and  all  the  friends  to  govern 
ment.  The  rebels  have  proclaimed  that  those  friends  may 
have  liberty,  and  come  in ;  but  as  all  their  declarations  have 
hitherto  proved,  I  fear,  false,  this  may  be  so.  Let  Ruggles 
know  his  father  wants  him  here.  You  may  come  by  water 
from  Newport.  If  here,  the  King  will  give  you  provisions 
and  pay  you  wages ;  but  by  experience  you  know  neither 
your  persons  nor  estates  are  safe  in  the  country,  for  as  soon  as 
you  have  raised  anything,  they  [the  rebels]  will  rob  you  of  it, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  323 

as  they  are  more  savage  and  cruel  than  heathens,  or  any  other 
creatures,  and,  it  is  generally  thought,  than  devils.  You  will 
put  yourselves  out  of  their  power  as  soon  as  possible.  This 
is  from  your  affectionate  father, 

"  THOMAS  GILBERT." 

In  1776  Colonel  Gilbert  accompanied  the  royal  army  to 
Halifax ;  and  in  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He 
continued  with  the  king's  troops  during  the  war,  "  often  em 
ployed,  and  constantly  rendering  every  service  in  his  power, 
for  the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion."  In  1783  he  went  to 
Nova  Scotia,  and  on  the  16th  of  November  of  that  year  he 
was  at  Conway,  in  the  County  of  Annapolis,  and  a  petiti- 
tioner  to  Governor  Parr  for  a  grant  of  lands.  At  a  subsequent 
period,  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  died  on  the  river 
St.  John,  near  the  year  1796,  aged  about  eighty-two.  On 
retiring  from  service  at  the  close  of  the  French  war,  Colonel 
Gilbert  declined  to  receive  half-pay.  He  held  no  commission 
in  the  Revolution,  and  was  consequently  entitled  to  no  allow 
ance  as  a  disbanded  officer ;  but  he  received  compensation  as 
a  Loyalist  for  his  losses. 

GILBOURNE,  EDWARD.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the 
Second  American  Regiment. 

GILL,  THOMAS.  Of  Delaware.  Died  in  York  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1833,  aged  seventy-seven.  Mary,  his  widow,  a 
native  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  died  in  the  same  County, 
1837,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one. 

GILLIES,  ARCHIBALD.  Died  at  Carlton,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1821,  aged  sixty-six. 

GILLISPIE,  HUGH.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment. 

GILLSNOEZ,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

GILMAN,  PETER.  Of  Oilman  ton,  New  Hampshire.  He  was 
son  of  Major  John  Gilman,  and  was  born  in  1704.  He  com 
manded  a  regiment  in  the  French  war ;  was  Speaker  of  the 
Assembly ;  and  member  of  the  Council  of  New  Hampshire. 


324 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


He  remained  in  the  country,  and  died  in  1788,  aged  eighty- 
four.  Colonel  Oilman's  regiment  was  employed  in  scout  duty ; 
his  men,  alert,  and  accustomed  to  savage  warfare,  rendered 
great  service,  and  his  own  merits  are  entitled  to  the  most  re 
spectful  mention. 

GILMORE,  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

GILMOUR,  ROBERT.  He  was  banished  and  attainted,  and 
his  estate  was  confiscated.  In  1794  he  represented  to  the 
British  government,  that,  at  the  time  of  his  banishment,  debts 
were  due  to  him  in  America,  which  he  had  been  unable  to 
recover.  I  suppose  this  person  to  have  belonged  to  New 
Hampshire,  and  the  same  who  was  proscribed  by  act  of  that 
State  in  1778. 

GILPIN,  THOMAS.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  confined 
in  that  city  for  being  inimical  to  the  Whig  cause,  and  ordered 
to  Virginia  a  prisoner. 

GIRTY,  SIMON.  He  figures  in  the  difficulties  of  Doctor  Con- 
oily  and  his  party,  with  the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
1774.  Girty's  career  was  entirely  infamous.  He  was  an  early 
prisoner  of  the  Whigs  at  Pittsburgh,  but  escaped.  In  1778  he 
went  through  the  Indian  country  to  Detroit,  with  McKee  and 
Elliot,  proclaiming  to  the  savages  that  the  rebels  were  deter 
mined  to  destroy  them,  and  that  "  their  only  chance  of  safety 
was  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  crown  and  fight."  In  1782 
Colonel  Crawford  was  captured  by  the  Indians  and  perished  at 
the  stake,  after  suffering  the  most  horrible  and  excruciating 
tortures,  which  Girty  saw  with  much  satisfaction.  The  same 
year  his  instigations  caused  the  removal  of  the  Moravian 
missionaries,  who  were  quietly  and  usefully  laboring  among 
the  Wyandots.  He  personally  engaged  in  driving  away  these 
self-denying  ministers,  treated  them  with  great  harshness  on 
the  march,  and  subsequently  procured  their  arrest.  At  the 
defeat  of  St.  Clair  in  1791,  Girty  was  present  on  the  British 
side ;  and  saw  and  knew  General  Butler,  who  lay  upon  the 
field  writhing  from  the  agony  of  his  wounds.  The  traitor 
told  a  savage  warrior  that  the  wounded  man  was  a  high 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  325 

officer ;  whereupon  the  Indian  buried  his  tomahawk  in  But 
ler's  head,  whose  scalp  was  immediately  torn  off,  and  whose 
heart  was  taken  out  and  divided  into  as  many  pieces  as  there 
were  tribes  engaged  in  the  battle. 

In  1793  Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
attempted  to  negotiate  with  the  Confederated  Nations  for  an 
adjustment  of  our  difficulties  with  the  Indians,  when  Girty 
acted  as  interpreter.  His  conduct  was  exceedingly  insolent: 
and  it  is  related,  that  he  was  not  only  false  in  his  duty  as  an 
interpreter,  but  that  he  run  a  quill  or  long  feather  through  the 
cartilage  of  his  nose  cross-wise,  to  show  his  contempt  for  the 
American  gentlemen  present.  The  failure  of  the  negotiation, 
it  is  supposed,  was  in  a  good  measure  owing  to  the  evil  influ 
ence  of  Girty  and  other  Loyalists. 

GLEN,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Congratulator  of  Corn- 
wallis  on  his  success  at  Camden,  in  1780.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished. 

GLEN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  also  a  Petitioner 
to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished, 
and  in  1782  his  property  was  confiscated.  He  went  to  Eng 
land. 

GLOVER,  HENRY.  Of  Newtown,  Connecticut.  In  1775  he 
was  Chairman  of  a  public  meeting  that  passed  several  votes  in 
opposition  to  the  Whigs. 

GLOVER,  JONATHAN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An 
Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

GLOVER, .  Of  Newtown,  New  York.  In  1779,  under 

the  direction  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  he  and  eight  other  Loyalists 
crossed  Long  Island  Sound  in  a  boat,  for  the  purpose  of  cap 
turing  Major  General  Silliman,  who  had  been  appointed  to  com 
mand  on  the  opposite  shore  of  Connecticut.  Glover  had  been 
employed  by  the  General,  and  was  familiar  with  his  house. 
The  party  approached  his  dwelling  at  night,  and  awoke  him 
self  and  family  by  a  violent  assault  upon  the  door.  Silliman 
attempted  to  fire,  but  his  musket  only  flashed ;  when  the  as 
sailants  broke  through  a  window  and  seized  him,  and  bore  him 
28 


326  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

off.  On  approaching  the  Long  Island  shore,  Colonel  Simcoe, 
of  the  Loyalist  corps  of  Queen's  Rangers,  was  in  waiting,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Have  you  got  him?  "  He  was  answered,  "  Yes." 
"Have  you  lost  any  men?"  "No."  "That  is  well,"  said 
Simcoe,  "your  Sillimans  are  not  worth  a  man,  nor  your 
Washingtons." 

GODDARD,  WILLIAM.  Son  of  Giles  Goddard,  Postmaster  of 
New  London,  Connecticut ;  had  a  checkered  career.  He  was 
bred  a  printer,  and  established  the  first  printing  press  at  Prov 
idence,  Rhode  Island,  in  1762 ;  and  soon  after,  commenced 
the  publication  of  a  newspaper.  Not  meeting  with  sufficient 
encouragement,  he  went  to  New  York,  and  connected  himself 
with  John  Holt  in  publishing  the  New  York  Gazette  and  Post 
Boy.  After  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  in  1766,  he  removed 
to  Philadelphia,  and  became  the  partner  of  Galloway  and 
Wharton,  in  a  paper  called  the  Pennsylvania  Chronicle.  These 
gentlemen  were,  in  the  end,  both  Loyalists.  It  would  seem 
that  the  firm  expected  that  Franklin,  who  was  then  in  Eng 
land,  would  take  an  interest  in  the  concern ;  and  provision 
was  made  in  the  articles  of  copartnership  accordingly.  The 
Chronicle  was  ably  conducted.  Galloway  was  an  eminent 
lawyer,  a  writer  of  great  vigor ;  and,  as  was  supposed,  a 
friend  of  the  popular  cause.  In  1770,  after  many  disputes,  the 
partners,  —  who,  in  the  meantime,  had  admitted  Benjamin 
Towne  as  a  member  of  their  establishment,  —  came  to  an  open 
rupture  ;  and  having  dissolved  their  connexion,  filled  the  pub 
lic  prints,  handbills,  and  pamphlets,  with  the  ebullitions  of 
their  animosity.  Unable  to  meet  the  demands  against  the 
firm,  Goddard,  in  great  embarrassment,  left  Philadelphia  in 
1773,  and  went  to  Baltimore,  in  quest  of  more  lucrative  busi 
ness,  and  greater  tranquillity  of  life.  Here  he  started  another 
newspaper;  but  the  plan  of  setting  up  a  line  of  post-riders 
from  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia,  in  opposition  to  the  Post- 
Office  establishment  of  the  crown,  soon  engaged  the  attention 
of  leading  minds ;  and  Goddard,  intrusting  his  printing  affairs 
to  the  care  of  his  sister,  journeyed  throughout  the  Colonies,  to 
promote  the  adoption  of  the  measure.  He  was  eminently  sue- 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  327 

cessful,  as  the  Whigs  entered  into  the  scheme  with  great  readi 
ness,  and  cheerfully  subscribed  the  necessary  funds.  Goddard 
was  appointed  surveyor  of  the  roads  and  comptroller  of  the 
offices,  on  the  organization  of  the  department ;  and  on  the 
retirement  of  Franklin,  who  was  placed  at  its  head,  expected 
to  succeed  him  as  Postmaster  General.  To  his  great  disap 
pointment,  Bache,  son-in-law  to  Franklin,  received  the  place ; 
and  Goddard  resigned  his  situation  in  disgust.  It  was  sup 
posed,  that  now,  he  not  only  suffered  his  ardor  in  the  Whig 
cause  to  abate,  but  that  he  actually  abandoned  his  political 
principles.  He  resumed  his  residence  in  Baltimore,  where  his 
paper,  the  Maryland  Journal,  had  been,  and  was  still  continued, 
by  and  in  the  name  of  his  sister ;  but  in  which  it  was  known 
that  he  had  an  interest,  and  over  which,  it  was  believed,  that 
he  maintained  the  entire  control.  Early  in  1777,  two  articles, 
one  of  which  was  signed  "Tom  Tell  Truth,"  and  the  other, 
"  Caveto,"  appeared  in  the  Journal,  and  excited  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  Baltimore  Whig  Club,  who,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
resolved, 

"  That  William  Goddard  do  leave  this  town  by  twelve 
o'clock  to-morrow  morning,  and  the  County  in  three  days," 
&c.  He  immediately  claimed  the  protection  of  the  Assembly, 
then  in  session  at  Annapolis ;  and  though  that  body  formally 
and  severely  rebuked  the  Club,  there  was  no  resisting  the  pop 
ular  impulse  against  him,  and  before  the  quarrel,  thus  com 
menced,  was  ended,  he  was  mobbed  on  several  occasions,  and 
was  otherwise  insulted  and  ill-treated.  This  was  especially 
the  case  in  1779,  when  the  publication  in  the  Journal  of  certain 
Queries,  excited  the  ire  of  the  Whig  Club  anew  ;  and  caused  a 
great  ferment.  He  was  variously  employed  until  1784,  when 
he  appeared  as  the  proper  proprietor  of  the  Journal.  In  1787 
he  became  involved  in  a  bitter  controversy  with  the  publisher 
of  a  rival  print,  in  which  he  displayed  eminent  ability.  In 
1792  he  sold  his  press,  and  bidding  adieu  to  the  cares  and  tur 
moils  of  party  and  political  strifes,  retired  to  a  farm  in  Johnston, 
Rhode  Island.  He  subsequently  changed  his  abode  to  Provi 
dence,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  decease  in  1817, 
aged  seventy-seven  years. 


328  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Goddard  was  a  man  of  fine  talents,  and  as  the  manager  of 
a  press,  had,  it  is  said,  few  or  no  superiors.  General  Charles 
Lee  continued  his  friend,  and  bequeathed  him  a  po'rtion  of  his 
extensive  landed  estate  in  Virginia.  Lee,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  failed  in  the  execution  of  his  orders  at  the  battle  of 
Monmouth,  was  disgraced,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  retirement.  He  was  the  writer  of  the  Queries  which 
caused  Goddard's  trouble  with  the  Whig  Club  in  1779. 

GOLDING,  ISAAC.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  grantee  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

GOLDING,  JOSEPH  and  WILLIAM.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York. 
Were  loyal  Declarators  in  1775. 

GOLDING,  PALMER.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  A  true 
friend  to  government,  and  a  captain  in  the  militia.  Early  in 
1775,  he  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  a  friend,  who  was  sus 
pected  of  desertion  from  the  Whigs,  and  of  being  a  Tory,  and 
whose  political  course  he  was  supposed  to  influence,  when  he 
was  knocked  down,  and  much  bruised  and  wounded. 

GOLDING,  STEPHEN.  Residence  unknown.  Settled  in  New 
Brunswick  in  1783;  and  died  at  Long  Island,  Hampstead, 
Queen's  County,  of  that  Province,  in  June,  1845,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three  years.  For  the  thirty  years  previous  to  his  de 
cease,  he  held  a  commission  of  the  peace  for  Queen's  County. 
For  fifty-five  years  he  was  an  officer  in  the  Provincial  militia, 
and  retired  with  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  a  consistent  mem 
ber  of  the  Church  of  England.  His  descendants  are  numer 
ous, —  namely,  eleven  children,  seventy-one  grandchildren, 
and  seventy-four  great-grandchildren. 

GOLDING,  ZENUS.  Residence  unknown.  Died  at  French  Vil 
lage,  New  Brunswick,  in  1814,  aged  fifty-six. 

GOLDSBURY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Wrentham,  Massachusetts.  Went 
to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

GOLDSMITH,  HENRY.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
Collector  of  the  Customs  for  the  port  of  St.  Andrew. 

GOLDTKWAITE,  EzEKiEL.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the 
same  year.  He  was  Register  of  Deeds  for  the  County  of 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  329 

Suffolk.  The  Reverend  John  Bacon,  who  was  minister  of  the 
Old  South,  and  whose  son,  Ezekiel,  was  a  member  of  Congress 
before  the  war  of  1812,  married  his  daughter.  Though  Mr. 
Goldthwaite  became  an  Addresser,  he  was  one  of  the  fifty- 
eight  Boston  memorialists  who,  in  1760,  arrayed  themselves 
against  the  crown  officers,  and  set  the  ball  of  the  Revolution 
in  motion. 

GOLDTHWAITE,  JOSEPH.  Of  Boston.  Brother  of  Philip  Gold 
thwaite.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson ;  connected  with 
the  quartermaster's  department  of  the  royal  army  in  Boston 
in  1775  ;  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

GOLDTHWAITE,  M.  B.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of  both 
Hutchinson  and  Gage. 

GOLDTHWAITE,  PHILIP.  Of  Maine.  He  was  one  of  the  two 
persons  of  Saco  and  Biddeford,  Maine,  who  was  dealt  with 
by  the  Whigs  of  that  section  for  their  loyal  principles.  He 
was  an  officer  of  the  Customs,  and  lived  at  Winter  Harbor. 
As  soon  as  the  war  commenced,  he  placed  himself  under  Brit 
ish  protection  at  Boston. 

GOOD,  DAVID.  Went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died 
at  King's-clear,  County  of  York,  1842,  aged  ninety-five.  His 
widow,  with  whom  he  lived  sixty  years,  survives,  (1845)  as 
do  one  hundred  and  eleven  descendants. 

GOODALE,  NATHAN.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  In  1774  he 
was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  but  signed  a  recantation. 
The  same  year,  however,  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage.  Early 
in  1775  he  secured  a  retreat  at  Nan  tucket. 

GORDON,  ALEXANDER.  A  physician,  of  Norfolk,  Virginia.  In 
February,  1775,  the  Whig  Committee  of  Observation  held  him 
up  for  public  censure,  for  the  importation  of  medicines,  con 
trary  to  the  Continental  Association.  This  Committee  was 
composed  of  thirteen  persons,  and  they  were  unanimous  in 
their  opinion  of  the  Doctor's  delinquency.  He  went  to  Eng 
land,  and  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king,  July.  1779. 

GORDON,  CHARLES.  Attorney  at  law,  of  St.  George,  Delaware. 
He  was  required  to  surrender  himself  for  trial  for  treason  on 
or  before  August  1,  1778,  or  to  lose  his  estate. 
28* 


330  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

GORDON,  CHARLES.  Attorney  at  law,  of  Cecil  County,  Mary 
land.  In  1775,  the  Whig  Committee  of  that  County,  at  a 
meeting  at  Elk  Ferry,  "  Resolved,  That  he  lies  under  the  im 
putation  of  being  an  enemy  to  this  country,  and  as  such  we 
will  have  no  dealings  or  communication  with  him,  nor  permit 
him  to  transact  any  business  with  us,  or  for  us,  either  in  a 
public  or  private  capacity,  which  shall  be  commenced  after 
the  date  hereof,"  &c.  Mr.  Gordon  "had  treated  with  great 
disrespect,  and  maliciously  aspersed  the  Continental  Congress, 
the  Provincial  Congress,  and  the  Committee  of  this  County ; 
and  had,  at  various  times,  and  by  sundry  ways,  vilified  their 
proceedings."  A  newspaper  controversy  ensued,  in  which  the 
delinquent  admitted  that  his  politics  were  not  quite  agreeable 
to  his  accusers,  &c. 

GORDON,  GEORGE.  Of  Danbury,  Connecticut.  Arrived  at 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife,  in  the  spring  of  1 783, 
in  the  ship  Union. 

GORDON,  HARRY.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  summoned  by 
proclamation  to  appear  before  November  1,  1781,  else  he 
would  be  attainted;  and  failing  to  do  so,  his  estate  was 
seized  by  the  commissioners  of  forfeitures,  and  most  of  it  sold. 
These  proceedings  were  against  Henry  Gordon ;  and,  by  an 
act  of  January,  1783,  the  misnomer  was  corrected,  and  the 
Executive  Council  of  that  State,  under  that  law,  sold  the  re 
mainder  of  his  estate  in  1790. 

GORDON,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

GORDON,  THOMAS  K.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  Colony  under  the  royal  government;  he  was 
allowed  to  leave  the  country. 

GORE,  JOHN,  Esquire.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of 
Gage.  He  went  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation,  and  thence  to 
England,  but  returned  to  Boston.  His  son,  Honorable  Christo 
pher  Gore,  was  long  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  public  char 
acters  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  gentleman  of  eminent  worth 
and  talents.  The  name  of  John  Gore  is  found  among  the  list 
of  the  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  331 

GORHAM,  DAVID.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1733.  In  1774  he  was  one  of  the  barristers 
and  attornies  of  Massachusetts  who  addressed  Hutchinson. 

GORHAM,  JOSEPH.  Was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Royal  Fen- 
sible  Americans ;  at  the  peace  he  went  to  England. 

GORHAM,  JOHN  and  JOSEPH  A.  Were  ensigns  in  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans. 

GORHAM,  NATHANIEL  and  JOHN.  Were  grantees  of  the  city  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

GORNLEY,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

GORT,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  In  1780,  he  and  James 
Plateau,  another  Loyalist,  hired  the  house  of  Garret  Putnam3 
a  Whig,  who,  receiving  orders  to  repair  to  Fort  Hunter,  took 
his  family  with  him.  Two  days  after  Putnam's  departure,  a 
party  of  Sir  John  Johnson's  Royal  Greens  came  to  the  settle 
ment  (now  embraced  in  the  town  of  Mohawk),  and  supposing 
the  house  was  still  occupied  by  Whigs,  entered  it  at  night,  and 
murdered  and  scalped  two  men.  In  the  morning,  the  dead 
bodies  of  Gort  and  Plateau  revealed  to  them  that  they  had 
murdered  two  friends. 

GORUM,  NATHANIEL.  Went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783.  He 
died  at  Kingston.  King's  County,  in  that  Colony,  February  9, 
1846,  aged  ninety-four  years.  Numerous  offspring  of  children, 
grandchildren,  and  great-grandchildren,  survive. 

GOUCHER,  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

GOULD,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Went  to  England,  and 
was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779. 

GRAHAM,  JOHN.  Of  Ulster  County,  New  York.  In  1775,  a 
number  of  his  Majesty's  loyal  subjects  met  at  his  house  and 
erected  a  Royal  Standard,  on  a  mast  seventy-five  feet  high, 
with  the  following  inscription. 

"  In  testimony  of  our  unshaken  loyalty  and  incorruptible 
fidelity  to  the  best  of  Kings ;  of  our  inviolable  affection  and 
attachment  to  our  parent  State,  and  the  British  Constitution ; 
of  our  abhorrence  of,  and  aversion  to,  a  Republican  Govern- 


332  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ment ;  of  our  detestation  of  all  treasonable  associations, 
unlawful  combinations,  seditious  meetings,  tumultuous  assem 
blies,  and  execrable  mobs  ;  and  of  all  measures  that  have  a 
tendency  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the  people  from  their 
rightful  Sovereign,  or  lessen  their  regard  for  our  most  excellent 
Constitution ;  and  to  make  known  to  all  men,  that  we  are 
ready,  when  properly  called  upon,  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives 
and  of  every  thing  dear  to  us,  to  defend  the  King,  support  the 
magistrates  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  maintain  the 
just  rights  and  constitutional  liberties  of  freeborn  Englishmen, 
this  Standard,  by  the  name  of  the  King's  Standard,  was 
erected,  by  a  number  of  his  Majesty's  loyal  and  faithful  sub 
jects  in  Ulster  County,  on  the  10th  day  of  February,  in  the 
15th  year  of  the  reign  of  our  most  excellent  sovereign,  George 
the  Third,  whom  God  long  preserve." 

GRAHAM,  JOHN.  Of  Georgia.  Lieutenant  Governor  of  that 
Colony.  He  went  to  England.  After  the  death  of  Sir  James 
Wright,  he  and  William  Knox  were  appointed  joint  agents  of 
the  Georgia  Loyalists  for  prosecuting  their  claims  for  losses. 
He  was  in  London  as  late  as  1788. 

GRANT,  ALEXANDER.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  American 
Regiment. 

GRANT,  DANIEL.  Was  a  native  of  Gillespie,  Sutherland, 
Scotland,  and  emigrated  to  the  United  States  previous  to  the 
Revolution.  At  the  peace  of  1783  he  removed  with  other 
Loyalists  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  where  he  continued 
to  reside,  and  where  he  reared  a  numerous  family.  He  died 
January,  1834,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

GRANT,  GEORGE.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

GRANT,  JAMES.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage  in  1774.  Went  to  Halifax,  but  returned,  and 
was  at  Boston  in  January,  1776 ;  at  which  time  he  had  been 
promised  a  commission  in  the  royal  army.  There  was  a 
major  James  Grant,  of  the  King's  American  Regiment,  who 
died  previous  to  October  15,  1783,  and  who  may  have  been 
the  subject  of  this  notice. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  333 

GRANT,  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  loyal  Declarator 
in  1775. 

GRANT,  JOHN.     A  captain  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

GRANT,  ROBERT.  An  ensign  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion. 

GRAVES,  JOHN.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  In  1775  he 
was  sent  to  the  jail  at  Northampton,  on  the  charge  of  holding 
improper  intercourse  with  General  Gage  at  Boston.  In  1778 
he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

GRAVES,  JOHN.  Of  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  He  was  the 
vicar  of  Clapham,  Yorkshire,  England,  and  in  1754  came  to 
Providence,  to  succeed  the  Reverend  John  Checkley,  an  Epis 
copal  clergyman,  who  died  the  previous  year ;  and  as  the 
Missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  Foreign  Parts.  In  1770  Mr.  Graves  wrote  to  the  Society, 
that  "  the  face  of  public  affairs  here  is  melancholy.  Altar 
against  altar  in  the  church,  and  such  open,  bold  attacks 
upon  the  state,  as,  I  believe,  the  English  annals  do  not 
furnish  us  with  the  like  since  the  reign  of  King  Charles  I." 
These  were  signs  of  the  coming  storm.  In  September, 
1776,  he  wrote :  u  Since  independency  has  been  proclaimed 
here,  my  two  churches  have  been  shut  up ;  still  I  go  on  to 
baptize  their  children,  visit  their  sick,  bury  their  dead,  and 
frequent  their  respective  houses  with  the  same  freedom  as 
usual ;  and  add,  with  gratitude,  that  their  benefactions  to  me 
since  the  above  period  have  been  great,  and  far  beyond  what 
I  have  ever  experienced  from  them  before,  founded  upon  their 
commiserating  sense  that  the  necessary  means  of  supporting  my 
large  family —  a  wife  and  seven  children  —  were  now  entirely 
cut  off."  In  1782  Mr.  Graves  was  expelled  from  the  parsonage 
and  glebe,  because  he  refused  to  open  his  church  in  conformity 
with  the  principles  of  independency.  He  soon  after  resigned 
his  ministry,  after  a  labor  of  twenty-six  years.  His  fate,  after 
dissolving  his  relations  with  the  Episcopal  church  at  Provi 
dence,  is  unknown. 

GRAY,  ANDREW  and  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Embarked  for  Hali 
fax  with  the  royal  army  in  1776.  Joseph  Gray,  of  that  town, 
died  at  Halifax  in  1803. 


334  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

GRAY,  BENJAMIN  DINGLEY.  Of  Yirginia.  Was  one  of  the  Non- 
Associators,  or  a  person  who  refused  to  join  the  Continental 
Association,  and  was  posted  by  the  Whig  Committee  in  March, 
1775,  accordingly.  On  seeing  his  name  in  the  list  he  said, 
"  that  he  looked  upon  this  Committee  as  a  pack  of  damned 
rascals  for  advertising  him  as  they  had  done,"  &c.  Subse 
quently,  the  Committee  denounced  his  conduct  by  a  resolution 
in  which  they  declare,  that  he  should  "  be  looked  upon  as 
inimical  to  the  liberties  of  America,"  and  that  "no  person 
ought  to  have  commercial  intercourse  with  him." 

GRAY,  HARRISON.  Receiver  General,  of  Massachusetts.  He 
was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  was  a  Mandamus  Councillor, 
was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  was  among  those  whose  es 
tates  were  confiscated  by  statute.  At  the  evacuation  of  Boston, 
he  accompanied  the  British  troops  to  Halifax ;  thence  he  went 
to  England,  and  died  there.  In  abandoning  home,  country, 
and  friends,  he  parted  with  his  only  daughter,  the  first  wife  of 
S.  A.  Otis,  father  of  the  Honorable  Harrison  Gray  Otis.  In 
McFingal  it  is  said,  — 

"  What  puritan  could  ever  pray 
In  godlier  tones,  than  Treasurer  Gray, 
Or  at  town-meetings  speechifying, 
Could  utter  more  melodious  whine, 
And  shut  his  eyes,  and  vent  his  moan, 
Like  owl  afflicted  in  the  sun." 

Mr.  Gray  was  an  exemplary  gentleman  in  every  relation, 
and  among  the  Loyalists  there  was  hardly  one  more  deserving 
of  respect  and  kind  remembrance.  Trumbull's  muse,  there 
fore,  was  not  honored  by  such  sentiments. 

GRAY,  HARRISON,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  was  a  son  of  Harrison  Gray,  and  his  clerk  in 
the  Treasury-office. 

GRAY,  JAMES,  of  Reading,  and  JAMES,  Junior,  of  Fairfield 
County,  Connecticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading  Associa 
tion. 

GRAY,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  335 

GRAY,  LEWIS.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Gage  in 
1775 ;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778 ;  and  was  in 
England  in  1783. 

GRAY,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  commis 
sion  after  the  fall  of  Charleston.  Estate  confiscated. 

GRAY,  THOMAS.  Of  Boston.  Was  a  Protester  against  the 
Whigs,  and  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

GRAY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  in  1775 ;  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the  peace ; 
was  a  magistrate  of  King's  County,  and  died  in  1824,  aged 
ninety-six.  Justus  Gray  also  settled  in  the  same  Colony  in 
1783,  and  died  there  in  1843. 

GRAY.  Residence  unknown.  Four  were  in  the  military 
service,  namely,  Robert,  who  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment,  and  probably  belonged  to  New  York; 
William,  who  was  a  captain  in  the  New  York  Volunteers, 
and,  as  I  suppose,  lived  in  Westchester  County;  Gregory, 
who  was  surgeon's  mate,  and  George,  who  was  a  cornet 
of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion,  were,  possibly,  from  the 
South. 

GREEN,  FRANCIS.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1760.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
and  of  Gage,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war  he  went  to  England,  but  returned  in  1799, 
and  resided  in  Medford  until  his  death,  April,  1809,  aged  sixty- 
seven.  He  was  a  gentlemen  of  some  literary  acquirements ; 
and  having  two  children  who  were  deaf  and  dumb,  published 
several  papers  on  the  subject  of  imparting  speech  to  persons 
thus  afflicted. 

GREEN,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  mariner;  lost  his 
estate  under  the  confiscation  act  in  1779. 

GREEN,  JOSEPH.  Of  Boston.  A  wit,  a  poet,  and  a  merchant. 
He  was  appointed  Mandamus  Councillor,  but,  it  is  believed, 
did  not  take  the  oath  of  office.  His  name  is  found  among  the 
Addressers  of  Hutchinson.  He  went  to  England,  and  died 
there  in  1780,  aged  seventy-four.  He  published  several  of  his 
performances,  which  were  mostly  humorous ;  of  these  may  be 


336  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

mentioned,  the  burlesque  on  a  psalm  of  his  fellow  wit,  Doctor 
Byles,  ridicule  of  free-masons,  and  lamentation  on  Mr.  Old 
Tenor — paper  money.  Mr.  Green  graduated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity  in  1726,  at  the  age  of  twenty ;  having  been  born  at 
Boston  in  1706.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished.  Though 
the  gentleman  was  found,  finally,  among  the  adherents  of  the 
crown,  and  became  an  exile,  he  was  one  of  the  fifty-eight 
Boston  memorialists  in  1760  ;  and  in  1764  was  a  member  of  a 
committee  with  Samuel  Adams,  to  report  instructions  to  the 
Boston  representatives.  This  report  is  very  —  Whiggish. 

GREEN,  RICHARD,  SAMUEL,  and  MORRIS.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  themselves  to  be  loyal  and  well 
affected  subjects  in  1776.  Morris  Green  subsequently  bore 
arms. 

GREEN,  T^HOMAS.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  ordered  by  pro 
clamation  to  appear  and  be  tried,  or  to  stand  attainted.  A 
Loyalist  of  the  name  of  Thomas  Green,  died  in  New  Bruns 
wick  previous  to  the  year  1805 ;  his  widow  married  Clayton 
Tilton  of  Musquash,  New  Brunswick. 

GREEN.  In  Boston,  were  Benjamin,  an  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774 ;  Benjamin  Green,  Esquire,  died  in  Boston,  in 
1807,  aged  sixty.  Richard,  an  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775 ; 
Richard  Green,  Esquire,  died  in  Boston  in  1817,  aged  eighty- 
seven.  David,  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  went  to  England, 
and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  Besides  these, 
Daniel,  of  Massachusetts,  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  affair  at 
Lexington,  sent  to  the  jail  at  Concord,  and  ordered  to  be  con 
fined  until  the  further  order  of  the  Provincial  Congress ;  and 
Hammond  Green,  an  officer  of  the  customs,  who  embarked 
at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  royal  troops  in  1776. 

GREENE,  BENJAMIN.  Was  a  Protester  in  1774.  Rufus,  Jere 
miah,  and  Benjamin,  junior,  all  of  Boston,  were  Protesters, 
and  Addressers  of  Hutchinson  the  same  year. 

GREENE,  JOSEPH.  Major  of  De  Lancey's  First  Battalion.  At 
the  peace  he  went  to  Ireland. 

GREENLAW,  CHARLES.  Of  Castine,  Maine.  Brother  of  Eben- 
ezer  Greenlaw.  He  accompanied  Jonathan  and  Ebenezer  to 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  337 

St.  Andrew,  where  he  settled,  and  died  in  1811,  aged  about 
sixty-eight. 

GREENLAW,  EBENEZER.  Of  Castine,  Maine.  Brother  of 
Charles  Greenlaw.  He  removed  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  where  he  died  about  the  year  1810,  aged 
seventy. 

GREENLAW,  JOHN.  Shopkeeper,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

GREENLAW,  JONATHAN.  Of  Castine,  Maine.  Brother  of 
Charles  Greenlaw.  At  the  evacuation  of  Castine  by  the  royal 
forces  in  1783,  he  removed  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick, 
where  he  died  in  1818,  aged  eighty.  His  sons,  six  in  number, 
were  Whigs.  His  son  William,  the  only  one  who  entered  the 
service,  was  a  soldier  under  Washington,  and  at  the  peace 
settled  at  Deer  Isle,  Maine,  where  he  died  in  1838,  aged  eighty- 
seven  ;  his  son,  Jonathan  Babbage  Greenlaw,  is  a  shipmaster, 
and  resides  at  Eastport,  Maine. 

GREENLAW,  WILLIAM.  Of  St.  George's  River,  Maine.  Brother 
of  Charles  Greenlaw.  He  remained  on  his  farm  during  the 
war,  and  continuing  in  the  country  after  the  close  of  the  strife, 
died  at  St.  George  in  1828. 

GREECART,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Gage  in 
1775. 

GREENLEAF,  STEPHEN.  Of  Boston.  Was  Sheriff  of  Suffolk 
County.  He  was  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  in  1774,  and 
one  of  the  ninety-seven  gentlemen  and  principal  inhabitants 
of  the  capital  who  addressed  Gage  on  his  departure  in  1775. 
He  died  in  1795. 

GREENOOCK,  JOHN,  and  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 

GREENOUGH,  MOSES.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

GREENWOOD,  JOHN.  Cooper,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware.  Was 
ordered  to  surrender  himself  for  trial  in  1778,  or  submit  to 
the  forfeiture  of  his  property. 

GREENWOOD,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  Was  a  Protester  and 
Addresser  in  1774. 

29 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

GREENwood,  SAMUEL.  Of  Boston.  A  Sandemanian.  Was 
a  Protester  in  1774 ;  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax 
in  1776 ;  remained  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  at  Halifax ;  his 
son,  Samuel,  died  at  the  same  place  in  1832,  aged  fifty-seven. 

GREENWOOD,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  was  also  a  Petitioner 
to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown  ;  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

GREGG,  FREDERICK.  Of  New  Hanover,  North  Carolina.  In 
1779  his  property  was  confiscated. 

GREGORY,  BENJAMIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

GREGORY,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  assistant 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  under  the  royal  government; 
was  allowed  to  depart  the  country.  The  only  native  Ameri 
can  on  the  bench,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution, 
was  William  Henry  Drayton,  who  was  a  Whig;  he  made 
the  last  circuit  with  Gregory  and  his  other  associates,  in  the 
spring  of  1775. 

GREISWOLD,  JOSEPH.  Merchant,  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1780  he 
was  detected  in  keeping  up  an  illicit  trade  with  the  royal 
forces,  and  committed  to  prison  in  Philadelphia. 

GRIDLEY,  BENJAMIN.  A  lawyer,  of  Boston.  Graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1751.  He  was  among  the  barristers 
and  attornies  who  addressed  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  one  of 
the  Addressers  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 
In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  was  in  England 
at  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

GRIDLEY,  JEREMY.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1725,  and  becoming,  subsequently,  a 
distinguished  lawyer,  was  appointed  attorney-general.  W^hen 
the  officers  of  the  customs  applied  for  the  celebrated  Writs  of 
Assistance,  James  Otis,  his  former  student,  who  held  a  place 
under  the  crown,  was  applied  to  by  these  officers,  to  defend 
the  legality  of  the  measure,  but  he  declined  the  service,  and 
resigned  his  commission.  Mr.  Gridley  undertook  the  duty,  and 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  339 

was  met  by  Otis  on  the  other  side.  Mr.  Gridley  died  in  1767. 
Besides  his  high  legal  station,  he  was  colonel  of  militia,  and 
grand  master  of  free  masons.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  talents, 
of  distinguished  learning  and  virtue.  His  brother,  Richard, 
was  a  major  general  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and 
laid  out  the  fortification  on  Breed's  Hill,  the  night  before  the 
battle  of  June  17,  1775. 

GRIERSON,  GEORGE.  Of  Warsaw,  South  Carolina.  In  com 
mission  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston. 
Estate  confiscated. 

GRIERSON,  JAMES.  Was  a  native  of  the  Highlands  of  Scot 
land,  and  emigrated  to  America  before  the  Revolution.  He 
served  in  the  royal  army,  and  at  the  peace  settled  in  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  died  in  1846,  at  the  great  age  of  one 
hundred  and  five  years.  He  was  a  pensioner  of  the  British 
government  more  than  sixty  years. 

GRIFFIN,  SILAS.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
member  of  the  Reading  Association. 

GRIFFIN.  Benjamin,  a  captain,  and  William,  of  Westchester 
County,  New  York,  were  Protesters  in  1775  ;  and  James,  the 
same  year,  was  seized  at  Long  Island,  sent  to  Massachusetts, 
and  confined  to  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Rutland.  In  1776, 
Edmund  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  royal 
army. 

GRIFFITHS,  BENJAMIN  P.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's 
Second  Battalion. 

GRISON,  EDMUND.  Embarked  for  Halifax  with  the  British 
army  in  1776. 

GRISWOLD,  SETH.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and 
died  at  Queensbury,  York  County,  in  1838,  aged  eighty-one 
years. 

GROZART,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax 
with  the  British  army. 

GRYMES,  .     Of  Virginia.    He  was  a  gentleman  of  rank 

and  education,  and  entering  the  military  service  of  the  king, 
was  second  major  of  Simcoe's  corps  of  Loyalists,  called  the 
Queen's  Rangers.  He  appears  to  have  resigned  his  commis- 


340  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

sion  about  the  close  of  177S.  He  had  won  the  confidence  of 
his  commander,  and  of  the  corps,  by  extricating  them  from  a 
very  disadvantageous  situation,  by  a  decisive  and  bold  exer 
tion  at  Brandywine.  John  R.  Grymes,  a  Virginia  Loyalist, 
went  to  England,  remained  there  as  late  as  the  year  1788, 
and  probably  later,  and  was  agent  for  prosecuting  the  claims 
of  the  adherents  of  the  crown  in  that  State. 

GUERARD,  DAVID.     Of  South  Carolina.     Estate  confiscated. 

GUEST,  WILLIAM.  Of  Tiger  River,  South  Carolina.  In 
commission  of  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston. 
Estate  confiscated. 

GUILDART,  FRANCIS.  Was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

GUILLAUDEAU,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

GYER.  Five  of  this  name,  of  Reading,  Connecticut,  were 
members  of  the  Reading  Association.  To  wit :  John,  Joseph, 
Darling,  Thaddeus,  and  Nathaniel. 

HABERSHAM,  JAMES.  Of  Savannah,  Georgia.  He  was  the 
acting  Governor  of  Georgia  in  1771,  during  the  temporary 
absence  of  Sir  James  Wright.  In  April,  1775,  he  wrote  to  a 
friend  in  London  thus  :  —  "  The  fiery  patriots  in  Charleston 
have  stopped  all  dealings  with  us,  and  will  not  suffer  any 
goods  to  be  landed  there  from  Great  Britain ;  and  I  suppose 
the  Northern  Provinces  will  follow  their  example.  The  people 
on  this  Continent  are  generally  almost  in  a  state  of  madness 
and  desperation ;  and  should  not  conciliatory  measures  take 
place  on  your  side,  I  know  not  what  may  be  the  consequences. 
I  fear  an  open  rebellion  against  the  Parent  State,  and  conse 
quently  amongst  ourselves.  Some  of  the  inflammatory  resolu 
tions  and  measures  taken  and  published  in  the  Northern  Colo 
nies,  I  think  too  plainly  portend  this.  However,  I  must  and 
do,  upon  every  occasion,  declare  that  I  would  not  choose  to 
live  here  any  longer  than  we  are  in  a  state  of  proper  subordin 
ation  to,  and  under  the  protection  of,  Great  Britain ;  although 
I  cannot  altogether  approve  of  the  steps  she  has  lately  taken, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  341 

and  do  most  cordially  wish  that  a  permanent  line  of  govern 
ment  was  drawn  and  pursued  by  the  mother  and  her  children ; 
and  may  God  give  your  Senators  wisdom  to  do  it,  and  heal 
the  breach ;  otherwise,  I  cannot  think  of  the  event  but  with 
horror  and  grief.  Father  against  son,  and  son  against  father, 
and  the  nearest  relations  and  friends  combating  with  each 
other !  I  may  perhaps  say  the  truth,  cutting  each  other's 
throats.  Dreadful  to  think  of,  much  worse  to  experience. 
But  I  will  have  done  with  this  disagreeable  subject,"  &c. 

HACKETT,  -  — .  Weaver,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware;  the 
statute  of  1778  declared  that  his  property  should  become  for 
feit,  unless  he  surrendered  himself  before  a  certain  day. 

HADDEN,  JOE,  Junior.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HAGGERTY,  PATRICK.  In  1752  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
First  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

HAIGHT,  BENJAMIN.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HAINS.  Among  the  Westchester  County  Protesters,  were 
James  Hains,  Gilbert,  Alexander,  and  Joseph  Hains,  Junior. 

HAIT,  ISRAEL.  Of  Nor  walk,  Connecticut.  With  his  wife 
and  six  children  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the 
spring  of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union,  Consett  Wilson,  master. 

HAIT,  JAMES.  Of  Connecticut.  At  the  peace  he  went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  In 
1784  he  was  one  of  the  two  vendue  masters  of  the  district  of 
the  river  St.  John.  He  removed  from  New  Brunswick  about 
the  year  1799,  and  died  at  Newfield,  Connecticut,  in  1804. 

HALE,  SAMUEL,  Junior.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished.  He  embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  in 
1776,  with  the  British  army. 

HALFERSON,  JAMES.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  with 
the  British  army  for  Halifax. 

HALL,  LUKE,    and   ADAM  3d.     Both   of  Mansfield,    Massa 
chusetts.     Were  proscribed  and  banished;  Luke  had   aban 
doned  the  country  in  1776. 
29* 


342  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

HALL,  CAPTAIN  JOSHUA,  and  JOHN.  Of  Reading,  Connecti 
cut,  were  members  of  the  Association. 

HALL,  EBENEZER.  Of  Fairfield,  Connecticut.  Was  de 
nounced  in  March,  1775,  by  the  Whig  Committee  of  Inspection, 
who  declared,  that  "  all  connections,  commerce,  and  dealings 
ought  to  be  withdrawn  from  him,"  for  violating  the  Association 
of  the  Continental  Congress. 

HALL,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  His  name  is  connected  with  one 
of  the  most  memorable  incidents  of  the  revolutionary  contro 
versy.  Tn  1773  he  was  in  command  of  the  ship  Dartmouth, 
owned  by  Francis  Rotch,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  28th  of 
November,  with  one  hundred  and  twelve  chests  of  the  cele 
brated  Tea,  which  was  thrown  overboard  in  the  following 
month  of  December.  The  next  year  he  was  an  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson,  and  in  1778  was  proscribed  and  banished.  The 
morning  after  Hall's  arrival  in  1773,  the  following  notice 
appeared. 

"FRIENDS,  BRETHREN,  COUNTRYMEN. 

"  That  worst  of  all  plagues,  the  detested  TEA,  shipped  for 
this  port  by  the  East  India  Company,  is  now  arrived  in  this 
harbor.  The  hour  of  destruction,  or  manly  opposition  to  the 
machinations  of  Tyranny,  stares  you  in  the  face.  Every 
friend  to  his  country,  to  himself,  and  to  posterity,  is  now  called 
upon  to  meet  at  Faneuil  Hall  at  nine  o'clock  this  day,  (at 
which  time  the  bells  will  ring),  to  make  a  united  and  success 
ful  resistance  to  this  last,  worst,  and  most  destructive  measure 
of  administration." 

"  Boston,  November  29,  1779." 

Bruce,  in  the  Eleanor,  and  Coffin,  in  the  Beaver,  came  into 
port  soon  after ;  and  the  rebels  disguised  as  Indians  threw  the 
cargoes  of  the  three  vessels,  consisting  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  whole,  and  one  hundred  half  chests,  into  the  harbor. 

HALL,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was  a 
Protester  at  White  Plains  in  1775.  Richard  Hall,  Collector  of 
the  Customs  at  Digby,  Nova  Scotia,  who  died  in  1803 ;  and 
Nathaniel  Hall,  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Nassau,  New 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  343 

Providence,  who  died  in  1807,  were,  I  conclude,  members  of 
Loyalist  families. 

HALLET,  DANIEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lan- 
cey's  Second  Battalion.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  received 
half-pay.  He  died  in  the  County  of  York,  New  Brunswick, 
1827,  aged  seventy-six. 

HALLET,  SAMUEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
Second  Battalion.  He  retired  on  half-pay  in  1783.  He  set 
tled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  in  1784  received  the 
grant  of  a  city  lot.  In  1792  he  was  a  member  of  the  vestry 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  died  at  St.  John  previous  to 
1804;  Elizabeth,  his  widow,  died  that  year,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine. 

HALLET,  SAMUEL,  Junior.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HALLET,  or  HALLETT.  Eight  persons  of  this  name,  of 
Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  Octo 
ber,  1776.  To  wit :  Thomas,  Jacob  junior,  George,  Richard, 
W.,  James,  W.,  David.  In  1778  the  house  of  Joseph  Hallet, 
of  that  County,  was  robbed  of  money  and  other  valuables. 

HALLOWELL,  BENJAMIN.  A  Commissioner  of  the  Customs,  at 
Boston;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778 ;  and  included 
in  the  conspiracy  act  of  1779.  While  passing  through  Cam 
bridge  in  his  chaise,  in  1774,  he  was  pursued  toward  Boston, 
by  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  on  horseback  at  full 
gallop.  The  place  of  his  residence  was  Medford.  He  went  to 
Halifax  with  the  British  army.  In  July,  1776,  he  embarked 
in  the  ship  Aston  Hall  for  England.  At  the  peace  he  returned 
to  America,  and  lived  in  Canada.  His  daughter,  the  widow 
of  Chief  Justice  Emsly,  resides  at  Toronto.  The  office  held 
by  Mr.  Hallo  well  at  Boston  was  extremely  unpopular ;  and 
often  brought  him  and  his  associates  into  collision  with  ship 
owners,  masters,  and  seamen.  The  township  of  Manchester, 
Nova  Scotia,  (or  a  large  part  of  it),  was  a  grant  to  Mr.  Hallo- 
well  ;  and  after  the  Revolution,  a  number  of  Loyalists  went 
there  and  settled. 


344  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

HALLOWELL,  ROBERT.  Of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished  in  1778.  He  appeared  as  as  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 
It  is  stated  in  the  Annals  of  Portsmouth,  that  Robert  was  col 
lector  at  that  place,  and  exchanged  offices  with  Meserve,  the 
comptroller  at  Boston.  In  some  documents,  Benjamin  is  de 
nominated  a  comptroller ;  while  in  the  conspiracy  act,  he  is 
called  late  commissioner  of  the  customs.  As  it  is  believed 
that  these  offices  were  distinct,  and  were  held  by  different 
individuals,  there  is  an  apparent  difficulty  in  discriminating 
between  the  two  gentlemen.  He  accompanied  the  British 
troops  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  and  in  July, 
1776,  was  waiting  at  the  former  place  to  embark  for  England 
in  the  ship  Princess  Royal.  His  sister,  Sarah,  wife  of  Samuel 
Vaughan,  Esquire,  of  London,  died  in  England  in  1809;  and 
his  sister  Anne,  widow  of  General  Gould,  died  at  Bristol, 
England,  in  1812. 

HALSEY,  ELISHA.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.. 

HALSTEAD,  EZEKIEL  and  PHILEMON.  Of  Westchester  County, 
New  York.  Were  Protesters  at  White  Plains. 

HAMBLETON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut. 
A  member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

HAMILTON,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
In  June,  1776,  he  declared  upon  his  honor  that  he  would  not 
"  directly  or  indirectly  oppose  or  contravene  the  measures  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  or  of  the  Congress  of "  New  York. 
He,  however,  became  an  active  friend  of  the  crown,  and  Aid- 
de-camp  to  General  Robertson,  and  commandant  of  the  militia 
of  Queen's  County,  with  the  pay  of  the  army.  In  December, 
1780,  his  house  at  Flushing,  New  York,  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  together  with  the  "  elegant  furniture,  stock  of  provi 
sions,  various  sorts  of  wines,  spirits  intended  for  the  regale 
of  his  numerous  friends,  the  military  and  other  gentlemen  of 
the  neighborhood."  His  command  consisted  of  seventeen 
companies.  His  name  heads  the  address  to  General  Robert 
son,  when  he  succeeded  Tryon,  as  Governor  of  New  York,  in 
1780. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  345 

HAMILTON,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Accepted  military 
employment  under  the  crown,  and  became  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  North  Carolina  Volunteers.  In  1779  his  property  was 
confiscated.  In  1794  his  agent  at  London,  in  behalf  of  the 
firm  of  which  he  was  a  member,  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
British  government  on  the  subject  of  debts  due  in  America  at 
the  time  of  his  banishment,  which  had  not  been  recovered, 
and  prayed  for  relief.  Of  others  of  the  same  name  in  North 
Carolina,  William  and  Thomas  were  captains ;  James  was  a 
lieutenant,  and  Robert  was  an  ensign,  in  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers.  Archibald,  of  Halifax  County,  held  no  commis 
sion,  but  his  property  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

HAMILTON,  PAUL,  Senior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Was  banished 
in  1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

HAMILTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  proprietor 
of  the  principal  part  of  the  site  of  the  city  of  Lancaster  in 
that  State.  This  land  escaped  confiscation,  and  ground-rents, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  are  yet  claimed  and  collected  under 
his  title.  The  Courts  have  acknowledged  the  validity  of  the 
call  upon  occupants  for  the  rents,  but  there  exists  much  un 
willingness  to  pay  them,  and  efforts  have  been  made  to  avoid, 
or  to  commute  them.  The  original  proprietor  of  Lancaster  was, 
I  suppose,  James  Hamilton,  Esquire.  Witham  Marshe  was 
there  in  1744,  with  the  commissioners  of  various  Colonies,  who 
were  sent  to  form  a  treaty  with  the  Six  Nations,  and  recorded 
in  his  journal,  that  this  gentleman  "made  a  ball  and  opened 
it,  by  dancing  two  minuets  with  two  of  the  ladies  here,  which 
last  danced  wilder  time  than  any  Indians." 

HAMM,  ANDREW.  Died  in  Westfield,  New  Brunswick,  1816, 
aged  sixty-two. 

HAMMELL, .     An  officer  of  the  American  service,  and 

brigade-major  to  General  James  Clinton.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  entered  into  treasonable 
designs  against  his  former  friends.  By  the  confession  of 
Geake,  a  confederate  who  was  arrested,  he  was  promised,  for 
his  defection  to  the  Whigs,  the  office  of  Colonel  of  a  new  Irish 


346  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

regiment,  to  be  raised  from  deserters  from  the  American  army, 
and  such  others  as  could  be  enlisted. 

HAMMEL,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the  Third  Bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

HAMPTON,  ABNER.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HANCOCK,  THOMAS.  Bookseller,  and  subsequently  a  mer 
chant,  of  Boston.  Was  the  son  of  the  Reverend  John  Han 
cock,  of  Lexington,  Massachusetts.  Relinquishing  his  busi 
ness  of  binding  and  selling  books,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
merchandise,  generally,  and  became  one  of  the  principal  com 
mercial  characters  of  New  England.  He  acquired  a  large 
fortune,  and  having  no  children,  bequeathed  the  greater  part 
of  his  estate  to  his  nephew,  John  Hancock,  who  occupies 
a  conspicuous  rank  among  the  Whigs  of  the  Revolution. 
Among  his  other  bequests,  was  that  of  £1000,  for  the  purpose 
of  founding  a  professorship  of  Hebrew  and  other  oriental 
languages  at  Harvard  University.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  of  the  Council  of  Massachu 
setts.  While  going  into  the  Council-chamber,  on  the  1st  of 
August,  1764,  he  was  seized  with  apoplexy,  and  died  the 
same  day,  aged  sixty-two  years.  He  had  the  character  of 
benevolence,  and  of  liberal  religious  and  political  sentiments. 
He  was  always  on  the  side  of  government ;  and  though  his 
death  occurred  early  in  the  controversy,  party  lines  were  as 
well  defined  in  Massachusetts,  in  his  time,  as  afterwards. 
Hutchinson  sets  the  sum  which  he  left  his  nephew  at  more 
than  £50,000  sterling;  besides  the  reversion  of  £20,000  after 
the  decease  of  his  widow.  From  the  same  authority,  it  would 
seem,  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  his  property  was  ac 
quired  in  the  Dutch  tea  trade,  which,  under  the  British  navi 
gation  laws,  was  illicit ;  and  from  supplying  the  officers  of  the 
army,  ordinance,  and  navy. 

HAND,  JOHN.  Of  New  Jersey.  He  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  two  children,  in  the  ship 
Union,  in  the  spring  of  1783. 

HANDLY,  ELIJAH.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  He  was 
in  the  military  service  of  the  crown  in  1780. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  347 

HANFORD,  THOMAS.  Of  Connecticut.  At  the  peace  he  went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  commenced  business,  and  became  an  eminent  merchant. 
In  1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery.  He  died  at 
St.  John  in  1826,  aged  seventy-three.  Ann,  his  widow,  sur 
vived  several  years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

HANKINSON,  REUBEN.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  First  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

HANNAHAM,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

HAPPIE,  GEORGE.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York.  He  ar 
rived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife,  in  the  spring 
of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

HARBURN,  JESSE.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  tried  in  1778 
on  a  charge  of  supplying  the  enemy  with  provisions,  and 
found  guilty.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  confined,  but  to  be  kept 
at  hard  labor  by  day,  for  one  month. 

HARDENBROOK,  ABEL  A.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HARDIN,  GEORGE.  An  ensign  in  the  Pennsylvania  Loyal 
ists. 

HARDING,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  there  in  1818, 
aged  seventy-three. 

HARDROFF,  HENRY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

HARDY,  ELIAS.  He  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the  law.  While  at  the 
bar,  General  Arnold  sued  Hoyt,  his  former  partner,  for  slander, 
and  for  saying  that  the  Traitor  burned  his  warehouse,  in 
order  to  defraud  the  company  that  had  underwritten  upon  the 
property ;  and  Mr.  Hardy  was  retained  as  Hoyt's  counsel. 
Arnold's  side  of  the  case  was  managed  by  the  first  Ward 
Chipman,  and  Jonathan  Bliss,  both  of  whom  were  subse 
quently  on  the  Bench  of  New  Brunswick.  The  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence  damages.  A  gentleman 
who  heard  the  trial,  assures  me,  that  the  public  at  the  time,  and 


348  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

that  Arnold's  own  counsel,  entertained  no  doubt  of  his  guilt. 
In  1792,  Mr.  Hardy  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 
He  died  at  St.  John  soon  after,  as  papers  which  relate  to  the 
administration  of  his  estate  bear  the  date  of  1799. 

HARE,  EDWARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Was  banished,  and  in 
1782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

HARE,  MICHAEL.  Of  Bedford,  County,  Pennsylvania.  Unless 
he  should  surrender,  and  take  his  trial  for  treason,  it  was  or 
dered  in  Council,  October  30,  1778,  that  he  stand  attainted. 
Jacob  Hare,  of  Bedford  County,  was  included  in  the  same 
proclamation. 

HARE,  LIEUTENANT .  Of  New  York.  Entered  the  ser 
vice  of  the  crown,  and  was  engaged  in  the  bloody  border 
affrays  with  Brant  and  the  Johnsons.  In  1779  he  was  seized 
by  the  Whigs,  tried  by  a  court-martial,  convicted  and  hanged. 
General  Schuyler  said,  "in  executing  Hare,  we  have  rid  the 
State  of  the  greatest  villain  in  it."  General  Clinton  remarked, 
that  his  death  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  all  the  inhabitants  in 
the  region  where  his  infamous  deeds  were  committed. 

HARLESTON,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

HARPER,  JAMES.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowl 
edged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  The  name  of  James  Harper 
appears  on  an  Address  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling  of  the 
Forty-second  Regiment,  April,  1779. 

HARPER,  THOMAS.  He  was  banished  and  attainted,  and  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  In  a  memorial  dated  at  London  in 
1794,  he  represented  to  the  British  government,  that  debts  due 
to  him  in  America,  at  the  time  of  his  banishment,  were  still 
unpaid,  and  he  desired  relief.  That  proscribed  Loyalists  could 
recover  sums  of  money  owing  to  them,  appears  to  have  been 
conceded  both  in  England  and  America,  and  several  decisions 
of  Courts  in  the  United  States  affirmed  the  opinion. 

HARRIS,  ABEL.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment. 

HARRIS,  JOSEPH.     A  runaway  mulatto  slave,  belonging  to 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  349 

Mr.  Henry  King  of  Hampton,  Virginia.  In  1775  he  gave  in 
formation  against  a  smuggling  schooner,  which  was  seized  in 
Cherry-stone  Creek,  and  on  being  threatened  with  death,  was 
recommended  to  Captain  Squew,  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Otter, 
by  Captain  Montague,  of  the  Fowey,  as  a  pilot.  Montague 
said  he  had  always  appeared  very  sober  and  prudent,  and 
that  he  was  a  freeman.  Harris,  it  seems,  had  been  a  pilot  in 
the  waters  of  Virginia,  but  was  driven  from  the  employment 
after  giving  intelligence  against  the  illicit  trader. 

HARRIS,  MASSY.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union. 

HARRIS,  SAMUEL.  Died  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1834, 
aged  seventy-two. 

HARRIS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  at  the  Crown 
and  Anchor  tavern,  London,  July  6,  1779. 

HARRISON,  CHARLES.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  Second  Bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  At  the  peace  he  went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  received  half-pay.  He  was  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  militia 
of  New  Brunswick.  His  fate  is  unknown.  The  late  General 
William  Henry  Harrison,  President  of  the  United  States,  was 
a  relative. 

HARRISON,  JOHN  and  S.  Of  South  Carolina.  Were  captains 
in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists.  The  estate  of  Nathaniel  Har 
rison  was  confiscated. 

HARRISON,  JAMES.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city  in  1783. 

HARRISON, .    He  was  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Boston 

in  1768,  and  after  the  seizure  of  Hancock's  sloop  in  that  year, 
was  roughly  treated  by  the  mob,  and  pelted  with  stones.  The 
windows  of  his  house,  which  was  adjacent  to  the  Common, 
were  also  broken ;  and  a  large  pleasure  boat  belonging  to  him 
was  dragged  through  the  streets  and  burned  near  his  residence, 
amidst  loud  shouts  and  huzzas.  Peter  Harrison,  Esquire,  was 
Collector  of  the  port  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  died 
before  June,  1775. 

30 


350  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

HART,  BENJAMIN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  a  prisoner, 
and  examined  by  the  Provincial  Congress  in  1775  ;  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

HART.  Among  the  Protesters  of  Westchester  County,  at 
White  Plains,  were  Joseph,  Monmouth,  and  James  Hart. 

HARTLEY,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  James  Hartley  of  that 
city  was  also  an  Addresser. 

HARTSHORN,  DAVIDSON.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HARTWELL,  EDWARD.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  in  1771 ;  and  Hutchinson  speaks  of 
him  as  one  of  those  on  the  ministerial  side,  who,  in  common 
times,  would  have  had  great  weight. 

HARVEY,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

HASELL,  JAMES.  A  member  of  his  Majesty's  Council  of 
North  Carolina.  In  March  of  1775  he  was  present  in  Council, 
and  advised  Governor  Martin  to  issue  his  Proclamation  against 
the  Whig  Convention  to  Assemble  at  Newbern  on  the  follow 
ing  3d  of  April.  "  The  Board,"  says  the  record,  "  conceiving 
the  highest  detestation  of  such  proceedings,  were  unanimous  in 
advising  his  Excellency  to  inhibit  such  illegal  meetings." 
While  Governor  Martin  was  absent  at  New  York,  for  the  ben 
efit  of  his  health,  Mr.  Hasell,  as  President  of  the  Council, 
administered  the  government ;  but  with  less  energy  and  popu 
larity  than  the  Governor.  He  was  also  appointed  to  act  as 
Chief  Justice  during  the  absence  of  Judge  Howard. 

HASKINS,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the  Whigs 
in  1774. 

HASTINGS,  JOSEPH  STACY.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1762,  and  was  ordained  at 
North  Hampton  in  1767.  After  a  few  years  he  embraced 
Sandemanianism,  and  resigned  his  ministerial  office  in  1774. 
He  went  to  Halifax,  but  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  kept  a 
grocery  store.  He  died  in  1807,  while  on  a  journey  to  Ver 
mont. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  351 

HATCH,  CHRISTOPHER.  Of  Boston.  In  1778  he  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished.  He  accepted  a  commission  under  the 
crown,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment. 
He  was  wounded  and  commended  for  his  gallantry.  At 
the  peace  he  retired  on  half-pay,  (about  £80  per  annum.) 
He  was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
but  soon  after  going  to  New  Brunswick,  established  himself  as 
a  merchant  near  the  frontier,  and  finally,  at  St.  Andrew, 
Charlotte  County.  He  was  a  magistrate,  and  colonel  in  the 
militia.  He  died  at  St.  Andrew,  1819,  aged  seventy.  Elizabeth, 
his  widow,  died  at  the  same  place,  1830,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five.  His  son,  the  Honorable  Harris  Hatch,  of  St.  Andrew,  is 
a  gentleman  of  consideration ;  holding  the  offices  of  member 
of  her  Majesty's  Council;  Commissioner  of  Bankruptcies; 
Surrogate  ;  Registrar  of  Deeds;  Member  of  the  Board  of  Edu 
cation  ;  Lieutenant-colonel  in  the  militia ;  and  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

HATCH,  HA  WES.  Of  Boston.  Brother  of  Christopher  Hatch. 
He  went  to  Halifax  with  the  royal  army  in  1776.  In  1778 
he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  entered  the  King's  ser 
vice  ;  and  in  1782  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Bat 
talion.  He  retired  on  half-pay  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John.  For  some  years  after 
the  Revolution  he  lived  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Eastport, 
Maine.  He  finally  returned  to  Massachusetts,  where  he  died. 

HATCH,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Dorchester,  Massachusetts.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1742  ;  and,  subsequently, 
held  the  office  of  Clerk  of  the  Courts.  In  1776  he  accompanied 
the  British  troops  to  Halifax,  at  the  evacuation  of  Boston.  In 
1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  in  1779  was  included 
in  the  conspiracy  act,  by  which  his  estate  was  confiscated. 
He  died  soon  after  the  war. 

HATCHELL,  PHILIP.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the  Loyal 
American  Regiment. 

HATFIELD,  DAVID.  Of  New  York.  He  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
city.  He  used  to  relate,  that  in  1784  he  sold  a  city  lot  and  a 


352  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

log-house  for  four  dollars ;  that  some  lots  the  same  year  sold 
for  only  one  dollar ;  others  for  a  jug  of  rum ;  and  that  the 
highest  sum  paid  for  choice  money  in  King  street  was  but 
twenty  dollars.  Mr.  Hatfield  established  himself  in  business, 
and  for  half  a  century  was  a  principal  merchant.  He  died  at 
St.  John  in  1843,  aged  eighty.  Ann,  his  widow,  died  in  1845, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  Recounting,  on  one  occasion,  to  a 
gentleman  of  Maine,  the  sufferings  and  difficulties  of  himself 
and  his  companions  in  exile  on  their  first  arrival  at  St.  John, 
he  was  asked  by  his  American  friend  why  he  went  there.  He 
straightened  himself  up,  and  with  emotion,  that  brought  tears 
to  his  eyes,  replied,  "  for  my  loyalty,  sir  !  "  and  in  a  moment 
added  ;  "  Sir,  my  principles  are  as  dear  to  me,  as  yours  can  be 
to  you." 

HATFIELD,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
The  Loyalists  who  adopted  the  Protest  against  Whig  Con 
gresses  and  Committees,  and  pledged  their  lives  and  properties 
to  support  the  king  and  constitution,  April,  1775,  met  at  his 
house.  An  Abraham  Hatfield  was  a  grantee  of  land  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783;  probably  the  same. 

HATFIELD,  CORNELIUS.  Was  a  captain  in  the  royal  service, 
and  engaged  in  predatory  excursions. 

HATFIELD,  DANIEL.  In  1783  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick. 

HATFIELD,  GILBERT.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
Was  a  Protester  at  the  house  of  Abraham  Hatfield  in  1775. 

HATFIELD,  ISAAC.  Of  New  York.  He  was  lieutenant-col 
onel  and  commandant  of  the  Loyal  Westchester  Volunteers. 
At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a 
grantee  of  that  city.  He  subsequently  settled  in  Digby,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  lived  there  thirty-six  years,  until  his  decease. 
He  died  in  1822,  aged  seventy-four. 

HA.TFIELD,  JOHN  SMITH.  Of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey.  He 
joined  the  royal  forces  at  or  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  in 
1778,  and  by  his  course  of  conduct,  subsequently  involved 
himself  in  much  misery.  One  infamous  act  is  well  authenti 
cated.  A  Tory,  sent  out  as  a  spy  by  the  British,  was  taken 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  353 

within  the  American  lines,  regularly  tried  by  a  court-martial, 
found  guilty,  and  executed.  This  act  Hatfield  and  some  other 
Tories  determined  to  revenge,  by  retaliating  upon  one  Ball, 
who,  contrary  to  law,  was  in  the  habit  of  secretly  supplying 
the  British  camp  at  Staten  Island  with  provisions.  The  first 
time  that  Ball  went  over  to  that  Island,  after  the  execution  of 
the  spy,  (of  which  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  any  knowl 
edge),  he  was  seized  by  Hatfield,  against  the  express  orders  of 
the  British  commanding  officer,  and  carried  beyond  the  British 
lines,  where  Hatfield  hung  him  with  his  own  hands.  The 
British  officer  sent  a  message  to  the  Whig  commander  in  the 
vicinity,  disavowing  the  deed,  and  declaring  that  those  alone 
who  had  perpetrated  the  act  ought  to  suffer  for  it. 

Some  time  after  the  war,  about  the  year  1788,  Hatfield 
returned  to  New  Jersey,  where  the  murder  of  Ball  was  com 
mitted,  and  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  A  witness  at  the 
examination  testified,  that  he  heard  Hatfield  say,  that  "  he  had 
hanged  Ball,  and  wished  he  had  many  more  rebels,  as  he  would 
repeat  the  deed  with  pleasure;"  and  he  testified  also,  that 
Hatfield  had  showed  him  the  tree  on  which  he  suspended  Ball, 
and  the  place  where  he  buried  his  victim.  While  Hatfield 
was  in  jail  at  Newark,  his  debaucheries  were  excessive,  and 
nearly  cost  him  his  life.  He  was  put  upon  his  trial  at  the  reg 
ular  term  of  the  Court  of  Bergen  County,  New  Jersey,  but  no 
witnesses  appeared  against  him,  and  he  was  released  from 
prison  on  bail,  when  he  immediately  fled,  and  never  returned 
to  the  State.  This  case  formed  a  subject  of  inquiry  and  com 
ment,  in  the  correspondence  between  Mr.  Jefferson,  Secretary 
of  State,  and  Mr.  Hammond,  the  British  Minister,  in  1792 ; 
the  latter  adducing  the  proceedings  against  Hatfield  as  one  of 
the  alleged  infractions  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 

HATFIELD,  SAMUEL.  Husbandman,  of  Murderkill,  Delaware. 
He  was  required  to  submit  himself  for  trial  for  treason  on  or 
before  August  1st  of  the  year  1778,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  his 
estate. 

HATHAWAY,  EBENEZER,    Junior.      Of  Freetown,    Massachu 
setts.     He  was  proscribed  and  banished.     Entering  the  royal 
30* 


354  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

service,  he  was  a  captain ;  but  disagreeing  with  his  colonel, 
resigned  his  commission  on  the  promise  of  a  majority  in  a  new 
corps,  but  in  this  he  was  disappointed.  After  ascertaining  that 
he  was  not  likely  to  receive  employment  on  the  land,  he  fitted 
out  and  commanded  a  privateer.  While  thus  engaged  he  was 
captured,  and  with  his  officers  and  crew  confined  in  Simsbury 
Mines.  He  had  been  extremely  active  in  annoying  the  Whigs, 
and  having  excited  their  deepest  enmity,  was  tried  for  his  life, 
but  escaped  conviction.  His  most  celebrated  feats  consisted  in 
carrying  off  Committee-men,  and  he  frequently  went  thirty 
miles  in  boisterous  weather  to  capture  one ;  and  he  used  to 
say,  that  "he  would  willingly  run  any  risk,  and  incur  any 
fatigue,  to  make  these  busy  and  troublesome  creatures  his 
prisoners."  He  endured  much  for  the  cause  of  the  crown,  but 
was  unable  to  obtain  pecuniary  recompense,  and  in  conse 
quence  of  his  resignation,  did  not  receive  a  pension.  His 
hardships  and  wounds,  during  the  war,  ruined  his  health.  He 
died  on  the  river  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  about  the  year 
1811,  aged  sixty-three.  Seven  sons  survived  him;  namely, 
Ebenezer,  Warren,  Calvin  Luther,  Charles  Reed,  James  Gilbert, 
Cushi,  and  Thomas  Gilbert.  His  wife  was  of  Whig  princi 
ples,  and  remained  true  to  them  throughout  her  life ;  though 
compelled  by  the  course  of  events  to  follow  him  into  hopeless 
and  interminable  exile.  One  of  her  sons,  a  gentleman  of 
wealth  who  resides  in  New  Brunswick,  has  related  to  me  the 
following  interesting  incident.  "My  father,"  said  he,  "was 
the  son  of  a  Tory  captain  ;  my  mother,  the  daughter  of  a 
Whig  major ;  and  the  two  families  were  thus  divided,  even  to 
some  of  the  collateral  branches.  The  political  discussions 
were,  of  consequence,  frequent  and  warm.  On  the  birth  of 
one  of  my  brothers,  it  was  insisted  on  the  one  side,  that  he 
should  receive  a  Whig,  and  on  the  other,  a  Tory,  name.  Nei 
ther  party  would  yield,  and  after  many  disputes,  my  father 
proposed  to  take  the  Bible,  and  give  the  child  the  first  proper 
name  he  should  see  on  opening  it.  This  was  assented  to ;  the 
name  happened  to  be  Cushi,  and  Cushi  was  my  brother  called 
during  his  life." 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  355 

HATHAWAY,  LUTHER.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  Brother 
of  Ebenezer  Hathaway.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished.  He  was  in  the  royal  service  as  lieutenant  of  a  corps 
called  the  Loyal  New  En  glanders.  He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  died  at  Cornwallis  in  1833. 

HATHAWAY,  SHADRACH  and  CALVIN.  Of  Freetown,  Massa 
chusetts.  Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  They  both 
died  in  exile ;  the  former  during  the  war  on  Long  Island, 
New  York. 

HATTON,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the  South 
Carolina  Royalists. 

HATTON,  JOHN.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

HAUXHURST,  HENRY,  SIMON,  JOHN,  SAMUEL,  and  W.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 

HAVILAND,  JOSEPH.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HAVILAND,  ARCHELAUS  and  ISAAC.  Residence  unknown.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  were  grantees  of 
that  city. 

HAWLEY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

HAWSE,  PRINCE.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

HAWSER,  FREDERICK.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HAY,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1812,  at  the  age  of  forty-three. 

HAYES,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

HAYES,  JOHN.  Was  seized  at  Long  Island,  New  York,  in 
1775,  sent  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the  limits  of 
the  town  of  Lunenburgh. 

HAYTER,  WILLIAM.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HAYTER,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1817,  aged  eighty-eight  years. 


356  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

HAZEN,  JOHN.  Removed  from  Massachusetts  to  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1775.  He  became  a  magistrate,  and  died  in  the  Coun 
ty  of  Sunbury  in  1828,  aged  seventy-three. 

HEAD,  EDMUND.  He  was  banished,  and  attainted,  and  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  In  1794  he  applied  to  the  British  gov 
ernment,  in  a  petition  dated  at  London,  to  interpose  for  the 
recovery  of  some  large  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the 
time  of  his  banishment. 

HEATH,  WILLIAM.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax. 

HEDDEN,  ISAAC.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  retired  on  half-pay, 
and  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  where  he  was  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Assembly.  He  died  in  that  Colony. 

HEDDON,  ZOPHER.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HELMER, .  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 

York.  He  accompanied  Sir  John  Johnson  to  Canada,  when 
the  Baronet  violated  his  parole  and  fled ;  and  was  one  of  the 
party  who,  in  1778,  returned  to  Johnstown  for  the  purpose  oi 
securing  some  of  Sir  John's  valuable  effects.  While  bearing 
off  the  iron-chest,  he  injured  his  ankle,  and  was  compelled  to 
go  to  his  father's  house,  where  he  remained  concealed.  But 
in  the  spring  of  1779  he  was  arrested  as  a  spy,  tried,  and 
sentenced  to  death,  chiefly  on  his  own  admissions  to  the 
Court. 

HENCKSMAN,  OBADIAH  and  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York. 
Were  signers  of  the  Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the 
Whigs,  January,  1775. 

HENDERSON,  HUGH.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  was  a  petitioner  for  a  grant  of 
land  in  Nova  Scotia,  July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

HENDERSON,  JAMES.  Trader,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778;  he  had  abandoned  the  country  in  1776, 
with  the  royal  army. 

HENDERSON,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  His  estate  was  con 
fiscated  in  1779. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  357 

HENDERSON,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment.  He  went  to  New  Brunswick  at 
the  peace,  and  in  1803  lived  at  the  island  of  Campo-Bello, 
where  he  was  an  officer  of  the  Customs.  He  removed  to  St. 
Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  and  died  there,  1828,  aged  seventy- 
seven. 

HENDRICKS,  CONRADT.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

HENDRICKSON.  Ten  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Daniel,  William,  Barnadus,  Aaron,  John,  Stephen,  Abraham, 
Albert,  Harman,  Hendrick.  John  Hendrickson,  of  Duchess 
County,  New  York,  with  his  wife,  arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

HENDRIX,  OBED.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

HENEY,  JOSIAH.  Was  born  near  Portland,  Maine,  in  1754, 
and  died  at  Deer  Island,  New  Brunswick,  in  1836,  aged 
eighty-two  years.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  the  Revolution,  and 
married  at  Windsor;  but  returned  to  Maine,  and  resided  for 
some  time  at  Castine.  Changing  his  abode  again,  he  lived  at 
the  place  where  he  deceased,  about  forty  years.  His  sons, 
Josiah,  Archibald,  and  Henry,  are  now  (July,  1844)  residents 
of  Deer  Island. 

HENLEY,  JAMES.  Of  Maryland.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign 
in  the  Maryland  Loyalists,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He 
retired  at  the  peace,  when  he  was  a  lieutenant,  on  half-pay. 
He  was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John.  His  widow,  Ruhe- 
mah,  died  at  Fredericton,  1841,  aged  ninety-one. 

HEPBURN,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  attached  to 
a  corps  of  Loyalists  as  secretary,  and  in  1776  was  taken 
prisoner  and  confined.  He  was  in  New  York  in  1782,  and  a 
notary  public. 

HERKIMER,  JOHN  JOOST.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was 
confiscated. 

HERRING,  PETER.  Of  the  city  of  New  York.  In  July,  1775, 
the  Committee  of  Safety  sent  him  under  guard  to  Connecticut, 


358  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

there  to  be  confined  in  close  jail  at  the  Continental  charge, 
until  he  should  be  released  by  the  Continental  Congress,  for 
aiding  one  Lundin,  a  prisoner  to  the  Whigs,  to  escape  on 
board  his  Majesty's  ship  the  Asia. 

HESTER,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  with  the  British  army 
at  Boston  for  Halifax. 

HEWLET,  CHARLES.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  De  Lan- 
cey's  Third  Battalion. 

HEWLETT,  RICHARD.  Of  Hempstead,  New  York.  He  was  a 
captain  in  the  French  war,  and  assisted  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
Frontenac.  In  the  Revolutionary  strife,  he  took  an  early  and 
active  part  on  the  side  of  the  king.  In  1775  he  told  a  dis 
tinguished  Whig,  that  he  had  mustered  his  command  a  few 
days  previously,  when,  "had  your  battalion  appeared,  we 
should  have  warmed  their  sides."  Before  the  close  of  that 
year,  he  received  from  the  Asia  ship  of  war,  a  great  quantity 
of  ammunition,  some  small-arms,  and  a  cannon.  In  March, 
1776,  his  course  had  rendered  him  very  obnoxious  to  the 
Whigs;  and  General  Lee  directed,  that  "Richard  Hewlett  is 
to  have  no  conditions  offered  to  him,  but  is  to  be  secured  with 
out  ceremony."  He  accepted  a  commission  when  De  Lancey's 
corps  was  raised,  and  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  third  of 
De  Lancey's  Battalions.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  retired 
on  half-pay,  and  settled  in  New  Brunswick.  He  was  a 
grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  and  its  mayor.  He  died  on 
the  river  St.  John,  near  Gagetown,  in  1789. 

HEWLETT,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  captain  in  the 
New  York  Volunteers,  and  in  1780  was  killed  at  Hanging 
Rock. 

HEWLETT.  Ten  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit: 
Richard,  John,  W.,  James,  Joseph,  Samuel,  John  senior,  Dan 
iel  junior,  Stephen,  Daniel  senior.  In  1779  a  party  of  Whigs 
carried  off  Justice  Hewlett  from  Oyster  Bay,  in  that  County. 
Richard  Hewlett  was  robbed  in  1783.  John  was  an  Addresser 
of  Governor  Robertson  in  1780. 

HEWS,  LIEUTENANT  DONALD.     Of  North  Carolina.     He  was 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  359 

taken  prisoner  in  1776  by  the  Whigs  under  Gas  well,  and  sent 
to  jail. 

HEYDEN,  S.  A  captain  in  the  King's  Rangers.  In  Novem 
ber,  1782,  he  had  retired  to  the  Island  of  St.  John,  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  where  he  invited  other  Loyalists  to  follow  him. 

HIBBEN,  ANDREW.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  commission 
under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

HICKEY,  PATRICK.  In  1775  he  was  sent  prisoner  from  Long 
Island,  New  York,  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Brookfield. 

HICKEY,  THOMAS.  In  1776  a  plot  of  the  disaffected  to  the 
Whig  cause  extended  to  Washington's  own  camp,  and  part 
of  his  guard  were  engaged  in  it.  Hickey  was  one  of  the 
number.  He  was  tried,  and  having  been  convicted  by  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  a  court-martial,  was  executed  on  the 
28th  of  June  of  that  year. 

HICKS,  CHARLES.  Of  Long  Island.  Was  an  Addresser  of 
Governor  Robertson  in  1780 ;  he  commanded  a  company  of 
Loyal  Militia,  and  a  party  of  Whigs  having  captured  a 
schooner  in  Jamaica  Bay,  in  August  of  that  year,  he  assem 
bled  his  company,  arid  with  a  few  volunteers  in  two  boats, 
went  in  quest  of  them.  He  offered  the  rebels  good  quarters, 
provided  they  would  surrender ;  this  they  refused,  and  a  smart 
action  ensued,  in  which  the  Whigs  were  overcome.  They 
accordingly  accepted  the  terms  at  first  rejected,  and  became 
prisoners.  Twenty-eight  thus  fell  into  Hicks's  hands,  of  whom 
one  was  a  clergyman. 

HICKS,  GILBERT.  Of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  Lost  his 
estate  under  the  confiscation  act  of  that  State,  in  1779. 

HICKS,  JOHN.  Printer,  of  Boston.  Was  born  in  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 
His  father  was  a  Whig,  and  lost  his  life  in  the  affair  of  Lex 
ington.  John,  it  was  supposed,  was  a  Whig  also;  but  in  1773, 
he  and  Nathaniel  Mills  bought  the  Massachusetts  Gazette  and 
Post  Boy,  of  Green  and  Russell ;  and  devoted  it  to  the  support 
of  the  measures  of  the  ministry.  His  paper  was  conducted 


360  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

with  much  ability,  spirit,  and  vigor.  Among  the  writers  for  it 
were  persons  of  great  political  knowledge  and  judgment.  It 
was  believed  at  the  time,  that  officers  of  the  British  army  were 
likewise  contributors  to  its  columns.  Hicks  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776,  and  continued  with  the  royal  troops  at  different  posts 
throughout  the  war,  supporting,  professionally,  the  side  which 
he  last  espoused ;  and  on  the  evacuation  of  New  York,  went 
again  to  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  remained  a  few  years, 
and  then  returned  to  Boston.  Having  acquired  considerable 
property  by  his  business  during  the  Revolution,  he  purchased 
an  estate  at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  on  which  he  resided  until 
his  death. 

7 

HICKS,  JOHN,  and  ROBERT.  Residence  unknown.  Were 
grantees  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

HICKS,  JONATHAN.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1770 ;  and  fitted  himself  for  the  prac 
tice  of  medicine.  In  1773  or  1774  he  was  at  Gardinerston, 
(now  Gardiner,  Maine,)  where  he  "expressed  himself  highly 
against  Whig  Committees,  calling  them  rebels,  and  using  other 
opprobrious  language  against  the  people  who  appeared  for  lib 
erty."  He  was  afterwards  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and 
continued  the  same  course  of  conduct,  and  "at  certain  times 
appeared  very  high,  and  once  drew  his  sword  or  spear  upon 
certain  persons."  The  evening  after  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
he  left  Plymouth,  and  took  shelter  with  a  detachment  of  the 
royal  troops  at  Mansfield ;  and  finally  retired  to  Boston. 
Soon  after,  General  Gage  despatched  the  sloop  Polly  to  Nova 
Scotia  for  supplies,  and  he  embarked ;  designing,  as  he  said, 
to  remain  at  Halifax,  "if  he  could  find  business,  in  order  to 
be  out  of  the  noise."  On  the  passage,  the  Polly  was  captured, 
and  Hicks  was  sent  prisoner  to  the  Provincial  Congress.  That 
body  ordered  a  Committee  to  investigate  his  case  in  June, 
1775  ;  and  as  Hicks  himself  owned  that  his  conduct  had,  on 
the  whole,  been  that  of  a  person  "  whom  the  people  for  liberty 
call  a  Tory,"  he  was  sent  under  guard  to  Concord,  and  com 
mitted  to  jail.  He  entered  the  royal  service,  subsequently, 
and  was  a  surgeon.  He  died  at  Demarara  in  1826. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  361 

HICKS,  THOMAS.  Was  elected  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
New  York  in  1775,  from  the  town  of  Hempstead,  Queen's 
County,  but  declined  taking  his  seat. 

HICKS,  WHITHEAD.  Was  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
during  a  part  of  the  war. 

HICKS.  Nine  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit  : 
Edward,  Thomas,  Benjamin,  Charles,  V.,  Thomas,  Charles 
junior,  Charles,  and  George.  In  1781,  Thomas  Hicks,  of 
Flushing  in  that  County,  was  robbed  of  law-books  and  other 
property. 

HIEL,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England,  and  was  in 
London  in  1779  ;  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  King. 

HIGBIE,  or  HIGBEE.  Nathaniel,  Henry,  Samuel,  Thomas, 
and  Moses,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged 
allegiance,  October,  1776.  Henry  and  Nathaniel  signed  a 
Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775.  Jonas,  probably  of  the 
some  County,  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783. 

HILL,  DAVID.  Merchant,  of  New  Ipswich,  New  Hampshire. 
In  1775  he  was  published  in  the  Essex  Gazette,  by  the  Com 
mittee  of  that  town.  He  made  a  statement  of  the  matters 
complained  of  by  the  Whigs,  to  which  the  Committee  rejoined. 
In  the  rejoinder,  it  is  said,  that  a  quantity  of  his  goods  were 
burnt  at  New  York  during  the  Stamp  Act  troubles,  as  a  pun 
ishment  for  his  offences;  that  the  people  of  New  Ipswich 
"  had  unanimously  agreed  not  to  use  tea,"  but  that  Hill  had 
still  brought  that  hated  article  there  for  sale ;  and,  that  his 
proceedings  had  been  condemned  in  a  full  town  meeting, 
which  had  been  called  at  his  own  request. 

HILL,  EZEKIEL.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  Was  a  member 
of  the  Loyalist  Association. 

HILL,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  an  inspector 
in  the  Superintendent  Department  established  at  New  York, 
and  was  stationed  at  Brooklyn.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  died 
in  York  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1804. 

HILL,  JOSHUA.  Of  Delaware.  A  member  of  the  General 
31 


362  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Assembly.  In  1778  it  was  enacted,  that  unless  he  should  sur 
render,  himself  for  trial  for  treason  on  or  before  August  1st,  his 
property  would  be  absolutely  forfeited  to  the  State. 

HILL,  PATRICK.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  he 
was  ordered  to  surrender  himself  for  trial,  or  to  stand  at 
tainted. 

HILL,  THOMAS.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  It  is  stated 
that  he  was  engaged  in  the  Massacre  in  1778,  and  that  with 
his  own  hands  he  killed  his  mother  and  several  other  relatives ; 
but,  like  the  story  of  similar  deeds  by  the  Terrys,  the  relation 
is  of  doubtful  truth. 

HILL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Massachusetts.  Embarked  at  Boston 
for  Halifax  with  the  royal  troops  in  1776. 

HILT,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1822, 
aged  seventy. 

HINCHMAN,  THOMAS,  OBADIAH,  and  JOHN.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

HINDS,  PATRICK.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  Congratulator  of 
Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished. 

HINKLY,  RICHARD.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

HINSTON,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778. 

HIRLEIGH,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Middletown,  Connecticut.  He 
had  property  in  Massachusetts,  which  by  an  act  of  that  State 
was  confiscated. 

HIRONS,  RICHARD.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

HITCHCOCK,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HOEG,  NATHAN.  Of  New  York.  In  June,  1783,  he  was 
preparing  to  embark  for  Nova  Scotia. 

HOGG,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  One  of  the  last  official 
acts  of  Governor  Martin  was  to  commission  this  gentleman  as 
a  magistrate,  for  the  County  of  Orange.  The  Whigs  at  this 
time  (1775)  had  so  far  obtained  the  ascendency  in  the  public 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  363 

councils,  as  to  cause  his  Excellency  to  dissolve  the  Assembly ; 
and  no  new  House  was  elected  during  the  remaining  period  of 
his  administration. 

HOLCOMB,  JEREMIAH.  Of  Hackinsack,  New  Jersey.  He 
went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  two 
children,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

HOLLAND,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  was  sheriff  of  the  County 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1792. 

HOLLAND,  JOHN  WENTWORTH.  In  17S2  he  was  an  ensign  in 
the  Prince  of  Wales' s  American  Volunteers. 

HOLLAND,  RICHARD.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  proscribed 
and  banished.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  of  infantry  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  settled  subse 
quently  on  the  coast,  at  Dipper  Harbor,  where  he  now  (1843) 
lives,  and  receives  half-pay. 

HOLLAND,  STEPHEN.  Of  Londonderry,  New  Hamphire.  He 
was  a  colonel  in  the  militia,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assem 
bly,  and  a  man  of  note.  In  1775  he  appeared  at  a  town-meet 
ing,  and  made  a  written  declaration  that  the  charges  against 
him  as  being  an  enemy  to  his  country,  &c.  were  false ;  and 
concluded  with  saying,  that  "  he  was  ready  to  assist  his  coun 
trymen  in  the  glorious  cause  of  liberty,  at  the  risk  of  his  life 
and  fortune."  But  in  1778  his  estate  was  confiscated,  and  he 
was  proscribed  and  banished.  In  1782  there  was  a  captain 
Stephen  Holland  in  the  Prince  of  Wales' s  American  Volun 
teers. 

HOLLAND,  .  A  surveyor.  By  a  communication  laid 

before  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  in  July,  1775, 
it  appears  that  he  had  loaned  to  Alexander  Shepard,  junior, 
(who  also  was  a  surveyor)  a  plan  or  survey  of  Maine,  which 
Shepard  disliked  to  return,  fearing  that  it  might  be  used  in  a 
manner  prejudicial  to  the  Whig  cause,  as  Holland  was  an 
adherent  of  the  crown,  and  then  in  New  Jersey.  Congress 
considered  the  matter,  and  by  resolve,  recommended  to  Shepard 
to  retain  Holland's  plan,  and  another  which  he  himself  had 


364  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

made  by  order  of  the  king's  surveyor  general,  until  leave 
should  be  granted  for  other  disposition  of  them.  There  were 
a  number  of  surveyors  of  the  name  of  Holland,  at  the  revolu 
tionary  period.  Major  Samuel  Holland  was  the  royal  survey 
or  general;  this  gentleman's  eldest  and  only  surviving  son, 
John  Frederick  Holland,  Esquire,  who  was  barrack-master, 
and  ordnance  storekeeper,  at  Prince  Edward's  Island,  died  at 
Charlottetown,  in  that  Colony,  in  1845,  at  an  old  age.  Major 
Holland's  plans  were  used  by  Des  Barres,  in  compiling  his 
celebrated  charts  of  the  American  coast.  It  may  be  added, 
that  a  Loyalist  of  the  name  of  Samuel  Holland  was  proscribed 
and  banished  under  the  act  of  New  Hampshire. 

HOLMES,  ABSALOM.  Residence  unknown.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

HOLMES,  BENJAMIN  M.  Distiller,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775  ;  went  to  Halifax 
in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

HOLMES,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  An  estate  belonging 
to  him,  which  had  been  confiscated  by  the  law  of  that  State, 
during  the  war,  was,  by  an  act  of  August  15,  1783,  vested  in 
certain  persons  in  trust,  for  the  benefit  of  a  public  school.  Mr. 
Holmes,  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  (1780)  had  accept 
ed  a  commission  under  the  crown. 

HOLMES,  JOEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Ar>  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

HOLT,  MOSES.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Pennsylvania  Loyal 
ists,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 

HOLYOKE,  EDWARD  AUGUSTUS.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts. 
Son  of  President  Holyoke,  of  Harvard  University ;  was  born 
August  13,  1728,  and  graduated  in  1746.  His  first  wife  was 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Pickman,  of  Salem ;  his 
second,  of  Nathaniel  Viall,  of  Boston.  He  was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson,  on  his  departure,  and  of  Gage,  on  his  arrival; 
and  for  addressing  the  first,  became  a  Recanter.  He  committed 
himself  no  more,  and  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country 
without  molestation.  He  died  at  Salem,  March  31,  1829.  aged 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  365 

one  hundred  years;  having  practised  medicine  for  seventy- 
nine  years.  On  the  day  he  was  a  century  old,  his  professional 
brethren  of  Boston  and  Salem,  to  the  number  of  about  fifty, 
gave  him  a  public  dinner. 

HOMER,  JOSEPH.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  royal  army 
from  Boston  to  Halifax ;  and  immediately  fixing  his  abode  in 
Barrington,  Nova  Scotia,  lived  there  ever  after.  He  held  the 
offices  of  Collector  of  his  Majesty's  Customs,  and  of  Collector 
of  Colonial  Duties ;  and  was  a  magistrate.  He  died  in  1837,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-one. 

HOOGLAND.  Elbert,  Cornelius,  Teunis,  William,  and  Corne 
lius  junior,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged 
allegiance,  October,  1776.  Captain  B.  Hoogland,  of  that 
County,  was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  Robertson  in  1780. 

HOOPER,  JACOB.  Embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax,  with  the 
British  army,  in  1776. 

HOOPER,  JOSEPH.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  Was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  University.  In  1774  he  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson,  and  in  1775  abandoned  home  for  Eng 
land,  where  he  resided.  A  refugee  in  England;  he  was  a 
manufacturer  of  paper  ;  and  died  there,  in  1812.  Several  per 
sons  of  Marblehead  of  the  name  of  Hooper  were  Addressers  of 
Hutchinson.  To  wit :  Robert,  Robert  junior,  Robert  the  third, 
and  Sweet.  Robert  Hooper,  Esquire,  died  in  that  town,  in 
1814,  aged  seventy- two. 

HOOPER,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

HOOPER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  He  was  settled  first  as  a 
Congregational  minister  of  the  West  Church ;  but  succeeded 
Mr.  Davenport  as  rector  of  Trinity  Church  in  1747.  A  num 
ber  of  Congregational  clergymen  became  Episcopalians  about 
the  same  time.  He  was  a  man  of  eloquence  and  talents.  He 
died  in  1767.  The  Reverend  Doctor  Walter  was  his  suc 
cessor.  His  son,  William,  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1760,  studied  law  with  James  Otis,  emigrated  to  North 
Carolina  about  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act  troubles,  and  became 
a  member  of  Congress,  and  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
31* 


366  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Independence.  Mr.  Jefferson  has  left  behind  him  the  recorded 
opinion,  distinctly  and  pointedly  expressed,  that  in  the  Con 
gress  of  1776  he  was  a  rank  Tory.  Possibly  it  was  so;  but 
most  men  —  very  likely  —  will  regard  William  Hooper  the 
younger,  as  of  a  very  different  political  school.  The  fact,  that 
he  was  a  signer,  affords  very  questionable  proof  of  his  attach 
ment  to  the  British  crown,  at  the  least.  And  some  persons  — 
not  improbably  —  will  be  ready  to  ask,  "  If  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  were  Tories,  where  shall  we 
look  for  the  Whigs?" 

HOPTON,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  also  a  Peti 
tioner  to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  ban 
ished.  In  1782  his  property  was  confiscated.  Prior  to  the 
Revolution  he  was  a  merchant.  At  the  evacuation  of  Charles 
ton  he  left  the  country.  The  British  government  made  him  a 
partial  allowance  for  his  losses.  He  died  in  1831. 

HORN,  HENRY.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax. 

HORNER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Virginia.  Was  in  London,  July,  of 
1779,  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern. 

HORSEMANDER,  DANIEL.  Of  New  York.  He  was  recorder  of 
the  city;  and,  subsequently,  President  of  the  Council,  and 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony.  In  1773,  at  which  time  he  held 
the  last  named  office,  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  under 
the  great  seal  of  England,  to  inquire  into  the  affair  of  burning 
the  king's  ship  Gaspee,  by  a  party  of  Whigs  of  Rhode  Island, 
the  previous  year.  In  1776,  he,  with  Oliver  De  Lancey,  and 
nine  hundred  and  forty-six  others  of  the  city  and  county  of 
New  York,  were  Addressers  of  Lord  Howe ;  and  on  the  same 
day  (October  16,)  he  addressed  Governor  Try  on  in  behalf  of 
the  same  persons.  He  died  in  1778,  and  was  buried  in 
Trinity  church-yard.  His  history  of  the  Negro  Plot,  or  New 
York  Conspiracy,  was  republished  in  1810.  Of  the  conspira 
tors  of  whom  this  publication  treats,  fourteen  were  burnt,  and 
eighteen  were  hanged.  Judge  Horsemander  was  engaged  in 
the  public  affairs  of  New  York  for  a  period  of  thirty  years. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  367 

HORSFIELD,  THOMAS.  In  July,  1783,  he  was  at  New  York, 
and  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners.  See  Abijah  Willard.  He 
went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  soon  after,  and  was  one  of 
the  grantees  of  that  city.  In  New  Brunswick  he  was  a  mag 
istrate.  He  died  at  St.  John,  1819,  aged  seventy-nine.  Ann, 
his  wife,  died  in  1815,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  Mr.  Hors- 
field  left  a  large  and  valuable  estate.  His  son  James  was  also 
a  Loyalist,  accompanied  him  to  New  Brunswick,  and  received 
a  grant  of  land. 

HORTON,  JONATHAN  P.  A  magistrate,  of  Westchester  County, 
New  York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HORTON,  NATHAN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

HORRY,  DANIEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent.  In  1774,  after  the  port  of 
Boston  was  shut  by  act  of  Parliament,  Daniel  Horry  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  of  the  city  of  Charleston,  to  receive 
donations  for  the  sufferers  in  that  town. 

HOUGH,  BENJAMIN.  A  magistrate  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  now  Vermont.  He  was  seized,  beaten,  stripped  of  his 
property,  driven  from  his  family,  and  compelled  to  take  refuge 
in  New  York.  Furnished  with  a  document  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy,  he  began  his  sad  journey. 

"  Sunderland,  30  Jan.  1775. 

"  This  may  certify  the  inhabitants  of  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  that  Benjamin  Hough  has  this  day  received  a  full 
punishment  for  his  crimes  committed  heretofore  against  this 
country,  and  our  inhabitants  are  ordered  to  give  him,  the  said 
Hough,  a  free  and  unmolested  passage  toward  the  city  of 
New  York,  or  to  the  westward  of  our  Grants,  he  behaving  as 
becometh.  Given  under  hands  the  day  and  date  aforesaid." 

"  ETHAN  ALLEN. 

«SETH  WARNER." 

When  Ethan  Allen  was  both  judge  and  executive  officer, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  sufficiency  of  punishment. 


368  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Hough,  it  seems,  was  tied  to  a  tree  and  received  two  hundred 
lashes,  and  he  was  told  that  if  he  returned  from  his  banish 
ment,  he  should  receive  five  hundred  lashes  more.  Among 
the  grave  offences  charged  against  him  was,  that  he  had  in 
formed  the  Governor  of  New  York,  of  the  mobbing  and  injury 
of  Benjamin  Spencer,  Esquire,  a  gentleman  of  his  own  politi 
cal  sentiments. 

HOUGHTON,  NAHUM.  Of  Massachusetts.  The  Committee  of 
Lancaster  published  him  July  17,  1775,  as  being  "  an  un 
wearied  pedlar  of  that  baneful  herb,  Tea,"  and  as  otherwise 
odious;  and  they  cautioned  "all  friends  to  the  community  to 
entirely  shun  his  company,  and  have  no  manner  of  dealings 
or  connections  with  him,  except  acts  of  common  humanity." 

HOUSE,  JOSEPH.  Of  Lancaster,  Massachusetts.  Went  to 
Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

HOUSEAL,  MICHAEL.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  of  infantry 
in  the  American  Legion  under  Arnold. 

HOUSSACKER,  COLONEL .  He  was  originally  a  Whig,  and 

was  commissioned  a  major  in  Wayne's  command ;  but  went 
over  to  the  enemy.  It  is  said  of  him,  that  he  was  "  a  soldier 
of  fortune,  and  a  true  mercenary." 

HOUSTON,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  On  the  passage  of 
the  Stamp  Act,  he  was  appointed  Stamp  Master  of  that 
Colony.  On  the  arrival  of  the  ship  with  the  Stamped  Paper, 
he  was  an  inmate  of  Governor  Tryon's  house.  A  large  mob 
repaired  to  the  Governor's  residence,  and  demanded  that 
Houston  should  come  to  the  door;  but  Tryon  "refused  to 
allow  the  claims  of  such  a  body  to  an  audience,"  and  persisted 
in  his  course,  until  the  threat  of  the  multitude  to  fire  his 
dwelling  was  on  the  point  of  being  executed.  Houston  was 
led  out  finally,  and  conducted  to  the  market  place,  where  he 
took  an  oath  never  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office. 

HOUSTOUN,  SIR  PATRICK.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

HOWARD,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers.  For  some  part  of  the  contest,  he  was  under 
command  of  Tarleton,  and  had  much  difficulty  with  that 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  369 

officer.  He  and  Colonel  Beverley  Robinson  were  intimate.  He 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  magistrate  many  years. 
He  died  at  Hampton,  1824,  aged  eighty-two. 

HOWARD,  MARTIN.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  removed  to  that 
Colony  from  Rhode  Island.  During  the  Stamp  Act  excite 
ment,  in  1765,  his  house  at  Newport  was  destroyed,  and  his 
person  injured.  He  fled  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  Chief  Justice.  His 
reputation  does  not  appear  to  have  been  good ;  nor  does  it 
seem,  that  the  calm  and  moderate  respected  him;  while  from 
others,  he  sometimes  received  abuse,  and  even  bodily  harm. 
Careful  pens  speak  of  his  profligate  character,  and  of  his  cor 
rupt  and  wicked  designs ;  and  aver,  that  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  hated  him. 

In  the  great  riot  at  Hillsborough  in  1770,  Judge  Howard 
was  driven  from  the  Bench,  but  the  mob  respected  his  asso 
ciate,  Judge  Moore.  In  1774  Howard's  judicial  functions 
ceased  in  consequence  of  the  tumults  and  disorders  of  the 
times ;  and  the  suspension  from  office  of  one  who  "was  noto 
riously  destitute  not  only  of  the  common  virtues  of  humanity, 
but  of  all  sympathy  whatever  with  the  community  in  which 
he  lived,"  was  a  matter  of  much  joy.  In  1775  he  was  pres 
ent  in  Council,  and  expressed  the  highest  detestation  of  un 
lawful  meetings,  and  advised  Governor  Martin  to  inhibit  and 
forbid  the  assembling  of  the  Whig  Convention  appointed  at 
Newbern.  In  July,  1777,  he  embarked  with  his  family  for 
a  northern  port,  and  thence,  I  suppose,  went  to  England  in 
1778.  A  person  of  this  name  died  in  exile  during  the  Revolu 
tion,  and  from  the  manner  in  which  several  persons  of  New 
England  mentioned  his  decease,  I  incline  to  believe  that 
he  was  the  subject  of  this  notice.  The  circumstance  that 
Judge  Howard's  name  does  not  appear  in  the  banishment  and 
confiscation  act  of  North  Carolina  in  1779,  favors  this  sup 
position  ;  since,  one  so  exceptionable,  if  then  alive,  could 
hardly  have  escaped. 

HOWE,  CALEB.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  of  infantry  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers. 


370  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

HOWE,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished. 
He  was  a  native  of  that  town,  and  at  the  Revolutionary  era 
conducted,  in  connexion  with  Mrs.  Draper,  the  Massachusetts 
Gazette  and  Boston  News  Letter.  Leaving  Boston  at  the 
evacuation  in  1776,  he  went  to  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where 
he  established  a  newspaper,  and  was  king's  printer.  He  was 
much  respected  and  beloved,  and  died  at  Halifax,  1835,  in 
his  eighty-second  year,  greatly  lamented.  His  widow,  Mary, 
deceased  at  the  same  city  in  1837,  aged  seventy-four.  His 
family  are  distinguished.  William  Howe,  assistant  commis 
sary  general,  who  died  at  Halifax,  January,  1843,  aged  fifty- 
seven  ;  John  Howe,  queen's  printer,  and  deputy  postmaster- 
general,  who  died  at  the  same  place  the  same  year ;  and  David 
Howe,  who  published  a  paper  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick, 
some  twenty  years  ago,  were  his  sons.  Of  the  same  relation, 
is  the  Honorable  Joseph  Howe,  late  of  his  Majesty's  Council, 
and  Collector  of  Excise  at  Halifax ;  a  politician  of  ready  and 
able  powers,  and  the  present  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  of 
Nova  Scotia.  John  Howe,  Esquire,  the  deputy  postmaster- 
general  of  New  Brunswick,  is  a  grandson. 

HOWELL,  ROBERT.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
the  Declaration  in  1775. 

HOVENDON,  MOORE.  Was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  Brit 
ish  Legion. 

HOVENDON,  RICHARD.  Was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  Brit 
ish  Legion. 

HOYT,  ISRAEL.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Died  in 
Kingston,  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1803,  aged 
sixty-one. 

HOYT,  JAMES.  Of  Fairfield,  County,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
member  of  the  Association  in  1775  ;  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  became  a  merchant.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  in  1795,  and  died  in  King's  County, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1803. 

HOYT,  JOSEPH.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Settled 
at  St.  John,  but  returned  to  the  United  States  about  the  year 
1800. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  371 

HOYT,  MONSON.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales' s  American  Volunteers,  and  quartermaster  of  the 
corps.  He  retired  on  half-pay ;  settled  in  New  Brunswick ; 
engaged  in  commercial  business,  and  was  a  partner  with  Gen 
eral  Arnold  at  St.  John.  He  publicly  accused  Arnold  of  his 
burning  his  warehouse ;  and  was  sued  by  the  Traitor  for  defa 
mation.  The  jury  gave  damages  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence 
New  Brunswick  currency  (just  fifty  cents).  The  fate  of  Lieu 
tenant  Hoyt  is  doubtful. 

HOYT,  STEPHEN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Prince  of 
Wales's  American  Volunteers.  He  retired  on  half-pay,  and 
settled  in  New  Brunswick. 

HUBBARD,  DANIEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year.  In 
1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

HUBBARD,  ISAAC.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  at  his 
decease,  was  the  senior  magistrate  of  the  County  of  Sunbury. 
He  died  at  Burton,  1834,  aged  eighty-six. 

HUBBARD,  NATHANIEL.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  removed  to  the 
parish  of  Burton,  County  of  Sunbury,  where  he  was  a  magis 
trate,  and  where  he  died  in  1824,  aged  seventy-eight. 

HUBBARD,  WILLIAM.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  settled  in 
Sunbury  County,  and  was  Register  of  Deeds  and  Wills ; 
Deputy  Surrogate ;  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly ;  and 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  died  in  that 
County  in  1813. 

HUBBEL,  NATHAN.  I  suppose  he  belonged  to  Connecticut. 
At  the  peace,  a  large  part  of  the  town  of  Guysborough,  Nova 
Scotia,  was  granted  to  him  and  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  others,  who,  during  the  war,  had  been  connected  with 
the  civil  department  of  the  royal  army  and  navy. 

HUBERT,  MICHAEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

HUCK,  CHRISTIAN.  A  lawyer,  of  Philadelphia.  He  aban 
doned  that  city  and  went  within  the  British  lines  at  New 


372  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

York.  In  the  course  of  the  war,  he  joined  Tarleton  at  the 
South,  and  was  a  captain  of  dragoons.  He  was  killed  in  an 
affray  with  a  party  he  was  sent  to  disperse.  The  captain 
was  "notorious  for  his  cruelties  and  violence." 

HUGGEFORD,  PETER.  Of  Wcstchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HUGGEFORD,  WILLIAM  L.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal 
American  Regiment. 

HUGHES,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  On  the  death  of  James 
Nevin,  Esquire,  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire,  in  1769,  he  succeeded  to  the  office.  In  common 
with  officers  of  the  Customs  of  other  ports,  he  encountered 
difficulties  in  executing  the  duties  of  his  station ;  and  property 
which  he  seized,  was  rescued  by  disguised  men  armed  with 
clubs.  He  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  1772. 

HUGHES,  PETER.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

HUGHES,  SAMUEL.  Of  Boston.  He  was  one  of  the  fifty- 
eight  Boston  memorialists  in  1760,  but  followed  the  royal 
army  to  Halifax  in  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  In  1784,  administration  was  granted  John  Hazen, 
Esquire,  on  the  estate  of  a  Loyalist  of  this  name,  who  died 
on  the  river  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

HUGHES,  URIAH,  Junior.  Of  the  township  of  Buckingham, 
Pennsylvania.  In  1778,  the  Council  ordered,  that  failing  to 
appear  and  be  tried  for  treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

HULL,  SETH.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of  the 
Association. 

HULTON,  HENRY.  Of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778 ;  and  included  in  the  conspiracy  act  of  1779.  He  was 
one  of  the  four  commissioners  of  the  Customs;  all  of  whom 
suffered  banishment  and  confiscation  of  estate.  He  accom 
panied  the  British  army  to  Halifax,  and  embarked  for  Eng 
land  with  his  family,  in  July,  1776,  in  the  ship  Aston  Hall. 

HUMBERT,  STEPHEN.  He  was  born  in  New  Jersey.  During 
the  war  he  was  in  the  city  of  New  York.  At  the  peace  he 
went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  373 

city.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  alderman  of 
St.  John,  and  captain  in  the  militia.  In  the  war  of  1812  he 
was  in  commission  in  the  preventive  service.  He  now  (1846) 
resides  at  St.  John,  and  is  attached  to  the  Colonial  treasury 
department. 

HUME,  JOHN.  Attorney-general,  of  Georgia.  He  left  America 
during  or  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

HUME,  JOHN.  Died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in 
the  year  1805. 

HUME,  JOSEPH.     Of  Georgia.    Was  in  England,  July,  1779. 

HUMPHREYS,  JAMES,  Junior.  Was  the  son  of  a  conveyancer, 
and  was  educated  at  the  college  in  Philadelphia.  He  com 
menced  the  study  of  medicine,  but  disliking  the  profession, 
learned  the  art  of  printing;  and  in  January  of  1775,  com 
menced  the  publication  of  a  newspaper  called  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Ledger,  which,  it  was  said,  was  under  the  influence  of 
the  friends  of  the  British  government.  He  was,  in  conse 
quence,  in  the  hands  of  the  people  several  times ;  but  he  had 
good  friends  among  the  Whigs,  of  whom  the  celebrated  Ritten- 
house  was  one.  Discontinuing  his  paper,  he  retired  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  country,  where  he  remained  until  the 
British  army  approached  the  city,  when  he  returned  to  it,  and 
continued  under  royal  protection  there,  and  at  New  York, 
throughout  the  war.  After  the  peace  he  went  to  England, 
thence  to  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia ;  but  returned  to  Philadel 
phia  in  1797,  opened  a  printing  house,  and  was  engaged  in 
book  printing  until  his  death  in  February,  1810. 

HUMPHRIES,  NICHOLAS.  He  was  an  ensign  in  the  New  York 
Volunteers. 

HUMPHRIES,  NICHOLAS.  A  physician.  He  was  a  surgeon  in 
the  New  Jersey  Volunteers ;  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and 
died  at  Sugar  Island  in  the  year  1822. 

HUNKIN,  MATTHIAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

HUNLOCK,  THOMAS.     In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Second 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.     He  retired  on  half-pay, 
32 


374  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  was  in  New  Brunswick  after  the  war ;  but  left  the 
Colony,  and  —  it  is  believed  —  returned  to  the  United  States. 

HUNT,  BENJAMIN.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  he  was  a 
lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion. 

HUNT,  COSBY.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant 
in  the  New  York  Volunteers,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  was 
drowned  in  the  river  St.  John  previous  to  the  year  1805. 

HUNT,  ISAAC.  Of  Philadelphia.  A  mob  seized  him  and 
carted  him  through  the  streets.  He  escaped  ill  usage  by  com 
mending  the  multitude  for  their  forbearance  and  civility.  In 
an  hour  or  two  he  was  returned  unharmed  to  his  dwelling. 
He  soon  after  went  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  took  church 
orders.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  England,  and  was  tutor 
in  the  family  of  the  Duke  of  Chandos.  His  wife  was  Mary, 
daughter  of  Stephen  She  well,  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  whose 
sister  was  the  wife  of  Benjamin  West.  Mr.  Hunt  was  the 
father  of  Leigh  Hunt,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  literary 
men  of  England  at  the  present  time. 

HUNT,  JAMES.  Residence  unknown.  In  1782  he  was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

HUNT,  JOHN,  the  3d.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775. 

HUNT,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  ordered 
to  be  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia,  for  disaffection  to  the  Whig 
cause. 

HUNT,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  (Probably  one  of  the 
above,)  was  a  lieutenant  under  Colonel  Robinson  in  the 
Guides  and  Pioneers. 

HUNT.  John,  Esquire,  Phineas,  Enoch,  Benjamin,  and  El- 
nathan ;  all  of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Were  Pro 
testers  at  White  Plains. 

HUNTER,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England  previous  to 
July,  1779. 

HUNTER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774.  In  1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

HUNTER,  WILLIAM.     Of  Virginia.     His  father,  whose  name 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  375 

was  William,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  a  printer  at 
Williamsburg,  to  the  house  of  Burgesses ;  and  having  a  rela 
tive  who  was  pay-master  to  the  king's  troops  in  America, 
obtained  the  appointment  of  deputy  postmaster-general  for 
the  Colonies  under  Franklin,  which  office  he  held  until  his 
death,  in  1761.  The  subject  of  this  notice  attained  to  his 
majority  about  the  time  the  Revolution  commenced,  and  being 
a  Loyalist,  attached  himself  to  the  British  standard,  and 
eventually  left  the  country. 

HUNTINGTON,  MINER.  A  magistrate ;  died  at  Yarmouth, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1839,  aged  seventy-six. 

HUNTY,  LAURENCE  DE  LA.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Royal  Gar 
rison  Battalion. 

KURD,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774. 

HURLSTON,  RICHARD.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with 
the  British  army,  for  Halifax. 

HUSBAND,  ANDREW.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Guides  and 
Pioneers. 

HUSTICE,  JOHN,  TIMOTHY,  and  JABEZ.  Were  grantees  of  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

HUTCHINGS.  Samuel,  Thomas,  William,  and  Jonathan,  of 
Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  Octo 
ber,  1776.  John  Hutchins,  of  the  same  County,  signed  a 
Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 

HUTCHTNS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774. 

HUTCHINSON,  EDWARD.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Gage 
in  1775. 

HUTCHINSON,  ELIAKIM.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1730  ;  and  became  a  member  of  the  Coun 
cil,  and  the  Judge  of  a  Court.  He  died  in  1775. 

HUTCHINSON,  ELISHA.  Of  Massachusetts.  Brother  and  com 
mercial  partner  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  junior.  He  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1762.  He  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished.  He  died  in  England  in  1824,  aged  eighty.  His  wife 
Mary,  who  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  George  Watson, 


376  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  died  at  Birmingham,  England, 
in  1803. 

HUTCHINSON,  FOSTER.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1743.  Raised  to  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  he  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  royal  Judges  of 
that  Colony.  His  name  appears  among  the  Mandamus  Coun 
cillors,  among  those  who  were  proscribed  and  banished,  and 
among  those  whose  estates  were  confiscated.  He  went  to 
Halifax  in  1776.  Governor  Hutchinson  was  his  brother.  He 
died  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1799.  His  son  Foster,  an  assistant 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  Colony,  died  in  1815  ;  and 
his  daughter  Abigail  deceased  at  Halifax,  July,  1843,  aged 
seventy-four. 

HUTCHINSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Massachusetts.  His  father  was 
Honorable  Thomas  Hutchinson.  a  merchant,  and  member  of 
the  Council,  who  died  in  1739.  The  subject  of  this  notice 
was  born  in  1711,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1727,  and  applied  himself  to  commerce.  Unsuccessful  as  a 
merchant,  he  devoted  himself  to  politics,  and  rose  to  the  high 
est  distinction,  having  been  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  and  Speaker  of  that  body  ;  Judge  of  Probate ; 
member  of  the  Council ;  Lieutenant  Governor ;  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court;  and  Governor.  The  regularity  of  his  life, 
his  sympathy  for  the  distressed,  his  affability,  his  integrity,  his 
industry,  his  talents  for  business  and  the  administration  of 
affairs,  his  fluency  and  grace  as  a  public  speaker,  his  com 
mand  of  temper  and  courteousness  under  provocation ;  united 
to  form  a  rare  man,  and  to  give  him  a  rare  influence.  A  Judge 
of  the  highest  Judicial  Court,  a  member  of  the  Council,  and 
Lieutenant  Governor  at  the  same  time, — he  seems  to  have  per 
formed  the  duties  of  these  incompatible  offices,  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  the  community.  And  the  fact,  that  unlike  most  of  the 
crown  officers,  he  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  not  of 
the  Episcopal  communion,  added  to  his  popularity. 

The  Revolution  produced  a  fearful  change  of  sentiment,  and 
he  became  an  exile ;  was  attainted,  and  lost  his  property  by 
confiscation.  His  political  ruin  gave  him  inconceivable  an- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  377 

guish,  and  prematurely  closed  his  life.  There  were  tales, 
indeed,  that  his  death  was  produced  by  his  own  act ;  but  this 
is  not  probable.  After  his  retirement  to  England,  a  baronetcy 
was  offered  him,  but  he  declined  it.  He  died  in  1780,  aged 
sixty-nine,  and  was  buried  at  Croydon,  England.  It  may  not 
be  possible  to  form  a  correct  opinion  of  the  character  and  mo 
tives  of  action  of  Governor  Hutchinson.  But  I  cannot  think, 
that  his  contemporaries  among  the  Whigs  did  him  exact  jus 
tice.  The  spontaneous  and  universal  respect  in  which  he  was 
held  by  all  parties,  previous  to  the  revolutionary  controversy, 
the  long,  faithful,  and  highly  valuable  services  which  he  ren 
dered  his  native  Colony,  surely  entitled  him  to  honorable  men 
tion  then,  and  to  our  regard  now.  Had  he  lived  at  any  other 
period,  his  claim  to  be  included  among  the  worthies  of  Massa 
chusetts,  would  not,  probably,  be  doubted.  It  is  to  be  deeply 
lamented,  that,  being  the  son  of  a  merchant,  himself  bred  a 
merchant,  and  his  own  sons  merchants,  he  did  not  see,  or 
would  not  see,  that  if  the  navigation  acts  and  laws  of  trade 
were  enforced,  the  commerce  of  the  Colonies  would  be  ruined 
at  a  blow.  His  position  enabled  him  to  have  prevented  the 
enforcement  of  the  hated  measures  of  commercial  restriction, 
and  he  is  hardly  to  be  held  excused  for  using  his  influence  on 
the  adverse  side.  As  a  historian,  no  man  was  more  familiar 
with  the  opposition  to  these  laws  when  Randolph  and  Andros, 
a  century  before,  attempted  to  fasten  them  upon  New  England ; 
and  he  knew,  that  all  that  a  single  Colony  could  do,  to  shake  off 
the  royal  authority,  was  done  by  Massachusetts,  in  the  time  of 
these  hated  emissaries  of  the  British  crown.  Could  he  have 
thought  that  the  opposition  of  his  countrymen  would  be  less, 
in  his  own  time,  when  they  were  required  to  sacrifice  an  ex 
tensive  and  rich  commerce,  —  a  commerce  unlawful  by  the 
statute  book,  but  yet  permitted,  for  a  long  course  of  years,  by 
the  officers  of  the  Customs  ?  It  does  not  appear  probable. 
And  yet,  how  is  his  pertinacious  adherence  to  the  measures  of 
the  ministry  to  be  accounted  for  ?  Did  he  think  the  measures 
just?  The  Whigs  of  his  generation  almost  unanimously 
believed,  that  he  knew  that  the  servants  of  the  king  were  in 
32* 


378  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  wrong,  but  that  his  ambition,  and  full  confidence  that  he 
espoused  the  winning  side,  caused  his  assent  to,  and  support 
of,  their  acts.  It  may  be  so.  His  private  virtues,  his  historical 
labors,  his  high  station,  his  commanding  influence,  his  sorrows, 
have  an  interest  which  none  who  are  acquainted  with  his  life 
can  fail  to  feel.  There  is  no  Loyalist  of  the  Revolution  whose 
character  I  have  studied  so  much,  nor  for  whom  my  sympa 
thies  have  been  oftener  moved.  But  I  have  never  been  able  to 
satisfy  myself,  whether  he  owed  his  fall  to  the  love  of  place 
and  power,  or  to  the  convictions  of  his  conscience.  The  third 
volume  of  his  history  of  Massachusetts,  which  embraces  his 
own  career,  is,  if  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  writ 
ten  are  considered,  a  work  of  singular  moderation  and  fairness; 
and  its  statements  are  to  be  received,  probably,  with  quite  as 
much  respect  as  the  records  of  any  gentleman  who  writes  of 
his  own  times,  his  own  deeds,  and  his  own  enemies.  I  can 
never  cease  to  regret  that  Governor  Hutchinson  countenanced 
the  revival  of  the  long  obsolete  statutory  provisions,  affecting 
the  navigation  and  maritime  interests  of  his  country.  I  forget, 
in  his  melancholy  end,  all  else. 

HUTCHINSON,  THOMAS,  Junior.  Of  Massachusetts.  Son  of 
Governor  Hutchinson.  He  was  a  merchant  of  Boston,  and  a 
third  part  of  the  tea  destroyed  there,  was  consigned  to  him  and 
his  brother  Elisha.  He  was  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  and  an 
Addresser  of  Gage;  and  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He 
went  to  England,  and  died  there  in  1811,  aged  eighty-one. 

HUTCHINSON,  THOMAS.  Of  New  Britain,  Pennsylvania.  Was 
ordered  by  the  Council,  in  1778,  to  surrender  himself,  or  to 
stand  attainted.  Marmaduke  and  Isaac  Hutchinson,  of  New 
Britain,  were  included  in  the  same  proclamation. 

HUTCHINSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  A  person  of  this 
name  was  member  of  a  committee  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
in  1775. 

HUTCHINSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1762.  In  1775  he  went  to  England, 
and  subsequently  held  an  office  in  the  Bahamas.  He  died  in 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  379 

1791  in  Europe.  A  son,  it  is  believed,  of  Honorable  Foster 
Hutchinson. 

HUTCHINSON,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  captain  lieutenant 
of  the  First  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  retired  on 
half-pay,  and  lived  in  New  Brunswick ;  but  removed  to  Upper 
Canada,  where  he  died. 

HUTTON,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1799,  aged  forty-two. 

HYATT,  LIEUTENANT  THOMAS.  Of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

HYBART,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  of  the  King's  Rangers,  Car 
olina. 

HYSLOP,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 

HYSON,  MICHAEL.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  went  to  Nova 
Scotia  during  hostilities.  He  married  when  upwards  of  a 
hundred  years  old.  He  died  at'  Ship  Harbor,  Nova  Scotia,  in 
1833,  aged  one  hundred  and  three.  His  third  wife  survived 
him,  as  also  numerous  descendants  of  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  generations  from  him. 

IMLAY,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  In  1777  he  was  in  Penn 
sylvania,  and  was  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia  by  the  Whig  au 
thorities. 

INGERSOLL,  DAVID.  Of  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts. 
His  name  appears  among  the  barristers  and  attorn ies  who  ad 
dressed  Hutchinson  in  1774.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778.  He  was  in  England  in  1779,  and  in  1783.  During  the 
troubles  which  preceded  the  shedding  of  blood,  he  was  seized 
by  a  mob,  carried  to  Connecticut,  and  imprisoned;  while  on 
a  second  outbreak  of  the  popular  displeasure  against  him,  his 
house  was  assailed,  he  was  driven  from  it,  and  his  enclosures 
were  laid  waste. 

INGERSOLL,  JARED.  Of  Connecticut.  He  was  born  in  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut,  in  1722.  In  1742  he  graduated  at  Yale 
College.  He  settled  in  New  Haven,  and  engaged  in  the  prac 
tice  of  the  law.  In  1757  he  was  agent  of  the  Colony  in  Eng- 


380  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

land.  In  1765  he  received  the  appointment  of  Stamp-distrib 
utor  for  his  native  Colony,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  his  way 
to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office.  While  at  Boston,  many 
attentions  were  paid  to  him;  and  on  his  departure,  Mr  Oliver, 
who  had  received  the  same  appointment  for  Massachusetts, 
accompanied  him  out  of  town.  This  act  occasioned  murmur 
ing  among  the  people  ;  an  inflammatory  article  appeared  in  the 
next  Boston  Gazette ;  labels  were  posted  on  the  Liberty  Tree ; 
and,  finally,  a  mob  destroyed  Oliver's  building  designed  for  his 
stamp-office. 

In  Connecticut,  matters  reached  the  same  extremity;  and  it 
was  threatened  before  his  arrival  there,  that  he  should  be  hung 
on  the  first  tree  after  he  entered  the  Colony.  Though  this 
threat  was  not  executed,  effigies  of  his  person  were  made  in 
several  places,  tried  in  form,  and  condemned  to  be  burned. 
Mr.  Ingersoll  formally  resigned  his  office  at  New  Haven  in 
August,  1765  :  but  his  resignation  was  not  deemed  satisfactory 
to  the  people  of  another  section  ;  and  a  large  body  set  out  for 
that  town  with  a  determination  to  compel  a  more  explicit  de 
claration  of  his  intentions.  They  met  him  at  Weathersfield, 
where  they  obtained  the  required  satisfaction;  and  extorted 
from  him  the  cry  three  times,  "  Liberty  and  Property."  Hun 
dreds  then  escorted  him  to  Hartford.  About  the  year  1770  he 
was  commissioned  Judge  of  Vice  Admiralty  for  the  Colonies 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and 
Virginia,  and  removed  to  Philadelphia.  The  Revolution  sus 
pended  his  official  functions,  and  he  returned  to  Connecticut. 
He  died  at  New  Haven,  1781,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine.  His 
son  Jared,  a  gentleman  of  distinguished  worth  and  talents, 
held  various  public  stations,  and  was  a  candidate  for  the  Vice- 
presidency  of  the  United  States  in  1812. 

INGLEBY.  THOMAS.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1813,  aged  fifty-four.  Eliza,  his  wife,  died  at  the  same  place, 
1811,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 

INGLIS,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  also  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  381 

INGLIS,  CHARLES,  D.  D.  Of  New  York.  He  was  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,  from  1777  to  1783.  After  Gallo 
way,  the  great  Pennsylvania  Loyalist,  went  to  England,  Doc 
tor  Inglis  was  a  correspondent,  and  his  letters  evince  no  little 
harshness  towards  the  fomenters  of  the  rebellion.  He  went  to 
Nova  Scotia  at  the  peace,  and  was  appointed  Lord  Bishop  of 
that  Colony.  In  1809  he  became  a  member  of  the  Council. 
He  was  the  first  Protestant  Bishop  of  any  British  Colonial 
possession  in  either  hemisphere.  He  died  in  1816,  aged  eighty- 
two,  in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  his  ministry,  and  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  his  consecration.  His  name,  and  that  of  his  wife 
Margaret,  occurs  in  the  confiscation  act  of  New  York.  Anne, 
his  daughter,  married  the  Reverend  George  Pidgeon,  and  died 
at  Halifax  in  1^27,  aged  fifty-one.  His  son,  the  Right  Rever 
end  Lord  John  Inglis,  is  now  (184  1)  Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia, 
and  a  member  of  the  Council ;  having  received  both  honors  in 
1825.  Within  his  diocese,  Lord  John  Inglis,  in  1826,  con 
firmed  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  persons, 
and  consecrated  forty-four  churches. 

INGRAM,  JAMES.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England,  and  was 
in  London.  July,  1779. 

INMAN,  GEORGE.  Of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1772;  and  became  an  officer  in 
the  British  army.  He  died  in  1789. 

INMAN,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the  Whigs  in 
1774.  In  1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage.  In  1776  he 
accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax. 

INMAN,  RALPH.     Of  Boston.     An  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 

IRELAND,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax. 

IRELAND,  JOHN.  Of  Long  Island,  New  York.  In  1777  he 
was  taken  in  arms  at  Lloyd's  Neck,  and  retained  a  prisoner ; 
but  in  the  spring  of  1778  he  was  allowed  to  return  home  to 
procure  clothing  and  other  necessaries,  on  condition  that  he 
should  deliver  himself  to  his  captors  in  thirty  days. 

IRVING,  ALEXANDER.  Of  South  Carolina.  Went  to  England 
previous  to  July,  1779. 


382  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

IRVING,  GEORGE.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1771,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

IVES,  DAVID.  Of  Rhode  Island.  I  suppose  he  was  a  cap 
tain  in  a  corps  called  the  Associated  Loyalists.  At  the  peace 
he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of 
that  city. 

IVES,  JOHN.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Went  to  New  Brunswick, 
and  was  appointed  master  carpenter  of  ordnance.  He  died  at 
St.  John  in  1804,  aged  fifty-six. 

JACKSON,  PETER.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Was  a 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

JACKSON.  Nineteen  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit: 
Richard,  Thomas,  Samuel,  Thomas,  Jacob,  David,  Robert, 
John  junior,  Robert  junior,  Parmenas,  John,  Benjamin,  Rich 
ard  junior,  Obadiah,  John,  Robert,  Samuel  the  3d,  Isaac,  and 
Townsend.  In  1780,  Reuben  Jackson  of  Queen's  County  was 
in  arms  against  the  Whigs. 

JACKSON,  DAVID.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  captain  in  a  Loyal 
ist  corps ;  was  taken  prisoner  by  Colonel  Caswell  in  1776. 

JACKSON,  HENRY  and  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  Henry 
was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion ;  and  William 
was  adjutant  of  the  King's  Orange  Rangers.  Both  probably 
belonged  to  Queen's  County,  New  York. 

JACKSON,  RICHARD.  Of  Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts. 
Of  this  man,  there  is  a  singular  but  well-authenticated  story. 
Having  adhered  to  the  crown  from  a  conviction  of  duty,  he 
felt  bound  to  aid  his  sovereign  in  suppressing  the  rebellion, 
by  all  means  in  his  power.  When,  therefore,  the  news  reached 
him,  in  1777,  that  Colonel  Baum  was  advancing  with  a  body 
of  troops  towards  Bennington,  he  prepared  to  join  him.  In 
the  battle  of  Hoosac  —  erroneously  called  the  battle  of  Ben 
nington  —  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  to  Great  Barring- 
ton,  then  the  shire  town  of  Berkshire  ;  and  by  General  Fellows, 
the  sheriff,  committed  to  prison.  The  county  jail  was  in  so 
ruinous  a  condition,  that  Jackson  could  easily  escape;  but  of 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  383 

this  he  had  no  intention.  He  felt  that  he  had  acted  right,  and 
determined  to  abide  the  consequences.  After  quietly  remain 
ing  in  jail  a  few  days,  he  told  General  Fellows,  that  he  was 
losing  his  time,  earned  nothing,  and  wished  permission  to  go 
out  to  work  in  the  day  time,  and  promised  to  return  at  evening 
and  be  confined  for  the  night.  His  great  simplicity  and  hon 
esty  of  character,  led  the  sheriff  to  confide  in  his  word.  Jack 
son  accordingly  went  out  to  labor  almost  every  week-day,  for 
some  months.  In  May  of  1778,  he  was  to  be  tried  at  Spring 
field  for  high  treason,  and  General  Fellows  made  the  necessary 
preparations  to  conduct  him  to  that  town  in  person.  But 
Jackson  said,  "he  could  go  alone  quite  as  well,"  and  thus 
save  the  sheriff  both  inconvenience  and  expense.  Again, 
General  Fellows  confided  in  his  integrity  ;  and  he  commenced 
his  journey.  In  the  woods  of  Tyringham,  he  met  the  Hon 
orable  T.  Edwards,  who  asked  him  the  object  of  his  travel. 
Jackson  answered,  that  he  "was  going  to  Springfield,  to  be 
tried  for  his  life."  To  Springfield  he  did  go,  was  tried  for  his 
life,  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to  die.  Application  was, 
however,  made  to  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  to  par 
don  him.  But  it  was  reasoned  by  the  members  of  the  Board, 
that  the  facts  against  Jackson  were  clear  and  incontestable, 
that  his  crime  was  unquestionably  high  treason,  and  that,  if 
he  were  pardoned,  all  others  who  might  commit  the  same 
crime  ought  to  meet  with  the  same  clemency.  But  Mr.  Ed 
wards,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Board,  told  the  story  of 
meeting  Jackson,  with  great  particularity,  yet  without  embel 
lishment.  The  simple  truth  moved  the  hearts  of  his  associ 
ates,  and  their  feelings,  as  men,  prevailed  against  reasons  of 
State  policy.  Jackson  was  pardoned,  and  returned  to  his 
family. 

JACKSON,  WILLIAM.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775 ;  was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  England,  where  he  died  in 
1810,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

JAFFREY,  GEORGE.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  Grad 
uated  at  Harvard  University  in  1736.  He  became  a  merchant. 


384  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

In  1744  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  held  that  office  twenty-two  years.  In  1 766 
he  was  admitted  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council ;  and  soon  after, 
received  the  post  of  Treasurer  of  the  Province.  He  possessed 
a  large  estate,  and  was  one  of  the  original  purchasers  of  Ma 
son's  patent.  He  was  molested  on  account  of  his  political 
opinions  several  times.  When  removed  by  the  Whigs  from  the 
office  of  Treasurer,  he  paid  over  to  his  successor  £1516.4.8, 
being  the  exact  balance  of  public  monies  in  his  hands. 
Though  opposed  for  his  attachment  to  the  crown,  he  left  be 
hind  him  an  unsullied  reputation  for  strict  integrity,  punc 
tuality  iu  his  dealings,  and  correctness  of  manners.  He  died 
at  Portsmouth  in  1802,  aged  eighty-six  years. 

JAMES,  EDWARD.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Orange 
Rangers. 

JAMES,  JACOB.  Was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Le 
gion. 

JARVIS,  MUNSON.  Of  Connecticut.  He  was  born  in  Nor- 
walk,  in  1742.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  In  1792  he  was  a 
member  of  the  vestry  of  the  Episcopal  church.  At  a  later 
time,  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly.  He  died 
at  St.  John,  1825,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  His  son,  the 
Honorable  Edward  James  Jar  vis,  was  formerly  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  New  Brunswick,  and  is  the  present  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  Colony  of  Prince  Edward's  Island. 

JARVIS,  ROBERT.  Mariner,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Hal 
ifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He 
was  in  London,  July,  1779,  a  Loyalist  Addresser. 

JARVIS,  STEPHEN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in 
the  South  Carolina  Royalists.  He  was  in  New  Brunswick 
after  the  Revolution  •  but  went  to  Upper  Canada,  and  died  at 
Toronto,  at  the  residence  of  Reverend  Doctor  Phillips,  1840, 
aged  eighty -four.  During  his  service  in  the  Revolution  he 
was  in  several  actions. 

JARVIS,  WILLIAM.     In  1782  he  was  an  officer  of  cavalry  in 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  385 

the  Queen's  Rangers.  At  the  peace  he  settled  in  Upper  Can 
ada,  and  became  Secretary  of  the  Colony.  His  widow,  Han 
nah,  a  daughter  of  Reverend  Doctor  Peters,  of  Hebron,  Con 
necticut,  died  at  Queenston,  Upper  Canada,  1845,  aged  eighty- 
three. 

JARVIS.  Besides  the  above,  John,  of  Boston,  was  a  Protester 
in  1774.  Nathaniel,  and  Samuel  (residence  unknown)  were 
grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1783;  and  John,  settled 
in  that  colony  the  same  year,  and  died  in  Portland,  New 
Brunswick,  1845,  aged  ninety-three. 

JAUNCEY,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  He,  like  Low  and  Sher- 
brook,  was  an  associate  with  Jay,  on  the  Committee  of  Cor 
respondence  of  Fifty,  and  probably,  at  the  outset,  was  inclined 
to  take  the  side  of  the  Whigs.  His  property  was  confiscated. 
In  1775  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  one 
of  the  fourteen  of  that  body  who,  in  the  recess,  addressed 
General  Gage,  at  Boston,  on  the  subject  of  "the  unhappy 
contest."  At  this  period  he  held  under  the  crown  the  office  of 
Master  of  the  Rolls. 

JAYNE,  WILLIAM,  Junior.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
In  July,  1780,  he  was  captured  by  a  party  of  Whigs,  and  car 
ried  to  Connecticut.  A  Whig  of  the  name  of  William  Phillips 
had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Smithtown  previously ;  and  the 
object  in  seizing  Jayne  appears  to  have  been  to  exchange  him 
for  Phillips. 

JEFFREY,  PATRICK.  Of  Boston.  Went  to  England.  Mary, 
his  wife,  died  in  Bath,  England,  in  1808. 

JEFFRIES,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Proscribed  and  banished.  He 
was  born  at  Boston  in  1744,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity  in  1763  ;  and  having  pursued  his  medical  studies  with 
Doctor  Lloyd,  of  that  town,  and  attended  the  medical  schools 
of  England,  commenced  practice.  From  1771  to  1774  he  was 
surgeon  of  a  British  ship  of  the  line  in  Boston  harbor.  After 
the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  he  assisted  in  dressing  the  wounded 
of  the  royal  army.  At  the  evacuation  he  embarked  with  the 
troops  and  went  to  Halifax,  and  was  appointed  chief  of  the 
surgical  staff  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  1779  he  went  to  England, 
33 


386  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  returning  to  America,  held  a  high  professional  employ 
ment  to  the  British  forces  at  Charleston  and  New  York.  In 
1780  he  resigned,  and  going  to  England  again,  commenced 
practice  in  London.  In  1785,  he  crossed  the  British  Channel 
in  a  balloon.  Returning  once  more  to  his  native  land,  he  re 
sumed  his  professional  career  at  Boston,  and  died  there, 
September,  1819,  aged  seventy-five. 

JENKINS,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  chaplain  of  the  South  Caro 
lina  Royalists. 

JENKINS,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  in  New 
Brunswick  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John. 
He  received  half-pay. 

JENKINS,  JOSEPH.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent.  In  the  act  he  is  styled  Colonel. 

JENKINS,  S.  H.  Was  banished  and  attainted,  and  his  estate 
confiscated.  In  1794,  he  represented  to  the  British  govern 
ment,  in  a  memorial  dated  at  London,  that  at  the  time  of  his 
banishment,  several  large  debts  were  due  to  him  in  America, 
which  were  still  unpaid,  though  the  debtors  were  rich. 

JENKINS,  SAMUEL  HUNT.  Of  Georgia.  Went  to  England, 
and  was  in  London  in  1779. 

JENKINSON,  DANIEL.  Died  at  Kingston,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1827,  aged  seventy-three. 

JENNINGS,  JOHN.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  In  1778  he 
was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  his  disaffection  to  the  popular 
cause.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  died  at  Grand  Lake,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1839,  at  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and 
three  years. 

JENNINGS,  THOMAS.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  grantee  of  a  city  lot.  He  died  there  in 
the  year  1805. 

JENNINGS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

JEROW,  DANIEL.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

JERVICE,  CHARLES.     Of  Philadelphia.     He  was  ordered  to  be 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  387 

sent  prisoner  to  Virginia  in  1777,  for  being  inimical  to  the 
Whig  cause. 

JEWETT,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

JOHNSON,  GUY.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  William  John 
son,  and  at  the  death  of  the  Baronet  succeeded  him  as  Super 
intendent  of  the  Indian  Department.  He  was  well  versed  in 
the  business  of  that  office,  having  long  held  the  place  of  deputy 
under  his  father-in-law.  His  own  assistant  or  deputy,  was 
Colonel  Daniel  Glaus,  who  also  married  a  daughter  of  Sir 
William.  His  residence  was  in  Tryon  County,  near  the  Ba 
ronial  Hall.  Colonel  Johnson's  intemperate  zeal  for  his  royal 
master,  caused  the  first  affray  in  that  County.  In  the  early 
part  of  1775,  about  three  hundred  Whigs  assembled  at  the 
house  of  John  Veeder,  in  Caughnawaga,  for  the  purpose  of 
deliberating  upon  the  public  concerns,  and  the  setting  up  of  a 
Liberty-pole.  Their  proceedings  were  interrupted  by  the  ar 
rival  of  Sir  John  Johnson,  Colonel  Claus,  Colonel  John  Butler, 
and  Colonel  Johnson,  with  a  large  number  of  their  retainers, 
well  armed.  Colonel  Johnson  mounted  a  high  stoop  and  ad 
dressed  the  people.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  became 
so  abusive,  that  Jacob  Sammons  interrupted  him,  and  pro 
nounced  him  a  liar  and  a  villain.  Johnson  thereupon  seized 
Sammons  by  the  throat,  and  called  him  a  d— d  villain  in  re 
turn.  A  scuffle  ensued,  in  which  Sammons  was  severely 
injured.  The  Whigs  present,  the  members  of  three  families 
excepted,  fled,  and  left  Sammons  to  fight  with  the  enraged 
Loyalists  as  he  best  could.  The  following  correspondence  will 
throw  light  on  the  proceedings  at  the  time,  and  on  the  course 
of  Colonel  Johnson.  He  wrote  from  Guy  Park  to  the  magis 
trates  of  Schenectady  and  Albany,  May,  1775,  thus  : 

"  Gentlemen :  —  As  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  country 
are  objects  that  every  good  man  should  have  at  heart,  I  think 
it  highly  necessary  to  acquaint  you,  that  for  a  few  days  I 
have  been  put  to  the  great  trouble  and  expense  of  fortifying 
my  house,  and  keeping  a  large  body  of  men  for  the  defence  of 
my  person ;  and  have  received  repeated  accounts  that  either 


388  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  New  Englanders,  or  some  persons  in  or  about  the  city  of 
Albany,  or  town  of  Schenectady,  are  coming  up,  to  a  consid 
erable  number,  to  seize  and  imprison  me,  on  a  ridiculous  and 
malicious  report  that  I  intend  to  make  the  Indians  destroy  the 
inhabitants,  or  to  that  effect.  The  absurdity  of  this  appre 
hension  may  easily  be  seen  by  men  of  sense ;  but  as  many 
credulous  and  ignorant  persons  may  be  led  astray  and  inclined 
to  believe  it,  and  as  they  have  already  sent  down  accounts, 
examinations,  &c.,  from  busy  people  here,  that  I  can  fully 
prove  to  be  totally  devoid  of  all  foundation,  it  is  become  the 
duty  of  all  those  who  have  authority  or  influence,  to  disabuse 
the  public,  and  prevent  consequences  which  I  foresee  with 
very  great  concern,  and  most  cordially  wish  may  be  timely 
prevented.  Any  differences  in  political  ideas  can  never  justify 
such  extravagant  opinions;  and  I  little  imagined  that  they 
should  have  gained  belief  amongst  any  order  of  people  who 
know  my  character,  station,  and  the  large  property  I  have  in 
the  country,  and  the  duties  of  my  office,  which  are  to  preserve 
tranquillity  amongst  the  Indians,  hear  their  grievances,  &c., 
and  prevent  them  from  falling  upon  the  trade  and  frontiers. 
These  last  were  greatly  threatened  by  the  Indians,  on  account 
of  the  disturbances  last  year  between  the  Virginians  and 
Shawanese ;  during  which,  my  endeavors  prevented  the  Six 
Nations  from  taking  a  part  that  would  have  sensibly  affected 
the  public.  And  I  appointed  last  Fall,  that  the  Six  Nations 
should  come  to  me  this  month,  in  order  to  receive,  amongst 
other  things,  final  satisfaction  concerning  the  lands  said  to  be 
invaded  by  the  Virginians,  who  have  now  sent  me  their 
answer.  In  the  discharge  of  this  duty  I  likewise  essentially 
serve  the  public.  But  should  I  neglect  myself,  and  be  tamely 
kmade  prisoner,  it  is  clear  to  all  who  know  anything  of  Indians, 
they  will  not  sit  still  and  see  their  Council  fire  extinguished, 
and  Superintendent  driven  from  his  duty,  but  will  come  upon 
the  frontiers,  in  revenge,  with  a  power  sufficient  to  commit 
horrid  devastation.  It  is  therefore  become  as  necessary  to  the 
public,  as  to  myself,  that  my  person  should  be  defended.  But 
as  the  measures  I  am  necessitated  to  make  for  that  purpose 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  389 

may  occasion  the  propagation  of  additional  falsehoods,  and 
may  at  last  appear  to  the  Indians  in  a  light  that  is  not  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public,  I  should  heartily  wish,  gentlemen,  that 
you  could  take  such  measures  for  removing  these  apprehen 
sions,  as  may  enable  me  to  discharge  my  duties  (which  do  not 
interfere  with  the  public)  without  the  protection  of  armed  men 
and  the  apprehension  of  insult.  And  as  the  public  are  much 
interested  in  this,  I  must  beg  to  have  your  answer  as  soon  as 
possible. 

"  I  am,  gentlemen,  your  humble  servant, 

"G.  JOHNSON." 

To  this  letter  Colonel  Johnson  received  two  answers :  one 
from  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  commonalty  of  Albany,  ad 
dressed  to  the  Committee  for  Palatine  district,  Tryon  County ; 
and  the  other,  from  the  Albany  Committee,  and  addressed  to 
himself.  Both  were  much  of  the  same  tenor.  The  last  is 
dated  "  Committee  Chamber,  May  23,  1775,"  and  was  in  these 
terms. 

"  Sir : — Several  letters  have  been  handed  to  us,  addressed  to 
the  magistrates  of  Schenectady  and  mayor  and  corporation  of 
Albany,  some  of  which  you  requested  to  be  communicated  to 
us,  whereby  we,  with  great  concern,  observe  you  are  much 
alarmed  with  apprehensions  of  evil  intentions  against  your 
family,  and  self  in  particular,  from  a  body  of  New  England- 
ers,  or  people  from  those  parts,  so  as  to  put  you.  under  the 
necessity  of  fortifying  yourself  for  safety.  From  what  cause 
these  terrible  ideas  have  sprung,  we  are  entirely  ignorant.  If 
any  real  ones,  you  must  be  better  acquainted  with  them  than 
we  are;  however,  we  do  assure  you  that  the  first  and  last 
knowledge  of  such  designs  have  come  to  us  from  you,  and  of 
course  must  have  originated  somewhere  near  you.  We  are 
not  ignorant  of  the  importance  of  your  office  as  Superintendent, 
and  have  been  perfectly  easy  with  respect  to  any  suspicions 
of  the  Indians  taking  a  part  in  the  present  dispute  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  knowing  them  to  be  a  people 
of  too  much  sagacity  to  engage  with  the  whole  Continent  in  a 
33* 


390  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

controversy  that  they  cannot  profit  by,  and  which  would 
throw  them  into  endless  war  and  misery.  As  long  as  they  are 
peaceable,  they  need  not  be  under  apprehensions  of  hostilities 
commencing  against  them. 

"  We  have  been  some  time  ago  informed  that  there  was  to 
be  a  Congress  at  your  house  of  the  Indians,  and  hope  such 
methods  may  be  taken  then  as  will  give  them  a  just  sense  of 
the  nature  of  the  present  disturbances,  and  that  they  may 
govern  themselves  by  such  a  line  of  conduct,  as  will  appease 
the  minds  of  such  persons  in  your  County  as  may  be  uneasy 
on  their  account.  The  information  we  have  from  time  to  time 
received,  very  lately  from  travellers  passing  by  your  house, 
has  given  us  some  pain,  as  we  find  the  communication  betwixt 
this  and  your  County  in  a  manner  stopped,  insomuch  that  no 
person  is  permitted  to  pass  without  undergoing  a  strict  exami 
nation.  These  proceedings  will,  if  not  speedily  stopped,  raise 
the  resentment  of  the  people,  we  fear,  and  cause  them  to 
undertake  such  acts  as  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  any  au 
thority  to  restrain.  We  would,  therefore,  be  glad,  and  permit 
us  to  recommend  it  seriously  to  your  attention,  that  you  would 
leave  the  communication  free,  and  disperse  your  guards,  and 
not  interfere  with  the  meetings  of  the  people,  intended  solely 
to  concert  measures  for  the  preservation  of  their  liberties,  in 
conjunction  with  the  other  counties  of  this  and  the  rest  of  His 
Majesty's  Colonies." 

Five  days  previous  to  the  date  of  this  reply,  Colonel  John 
son  had  said,  in  a  communication  to  the  Whig  Committee  of 
Schenectady,  that  he  had  "  taken  precaution  to  give  a  very 
hot  and  disagreeable  reception  to  any  persons  that  shall  at 
tempt  to  invade  his  retreat"  ;  yet  that,  "at  the  same  time  he 
had  no  intention  to  disturb  those  who  chose  to  permit  him  the 
honest  exercise  of  his  reason  and  the  duties  of  his  office." 
Meantime,  the  Tryon  County  Committee  and  the  Colonel  be 
came  involved  in  difficulty,  and  the  former,  in  denouncing  his 
proceedings,  used  the  following  among  other  equally  severe 
expressions.  "  Colonel  Johnson's  conduct  in  raising  fortifica 
tions  round  his  house,  keeping  a  number  of  Indians  and  armed 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  391 

men  constantly  about  him,  and  stopping  and  searching  travel 
lers  upon  the  king's  highway,  and  stopping  our  communication 
with  Albany,  is  very  alarming  to  this  County,  and  is  highly 
arbitrary,  illegal,  oppressive,  and  unwarrantable ;  and  con 
firms  us  in  our  fears,  that  his  design  is  to  keep  us  in  awe,  and 
oblige  us  to  submit  to  a  state  of  slavery  " ;  and  abhorring  that 
state,  they  resolved  "  to  defend  their  freedom  with  their  lives 
and  fortunes."  On  the  2d  of  June,  1775,  the  Committee  of 
Tryon  County,  in  a  long  letter,  begged  him  to  use  his  "en 
deavors  to  dissuade  the  Indians  from  interfering  in  the  dispute 
with  the  Mother  Country  and  the  Colonies."  "  We  cannot 
think,"  they  continue,  "  that,  as  you  and  your  family  possess 
very  large  estates  in  this  County,  you  are  unfavorable  to 
American  freedom,  although  you  may  differ  with  us  in  the 
mode  of  obtaining  redress."  His  course  was  watched  with 
much  anxiety.  It  was  well  known  that  the  Johnsons  could 
induce  the  Six  Nations  to  remain  neutral,  or  to  take  part  with 
the  crown,  at  their  pleasure.  The  Reverend  Doctor  Wheelock 
wrote  to  the  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Congress,  from  Dart 
mouth  College,  June  28th,  that  he  had  "seen  a  man  direct 
from  Albany,  and  late  from  Mount  Johnson,"  who  informed 
him  that  Colonel  Johnson  had  "  received  presents  to  the 
amount  of  three  thousand  pounds  from  the  King,  to  be  dis 
posed  of  to  engage  the  Indians  within  his  jurisdiction  against 
the  Colonies ;  and  that  all  his  endeavors  for  that  purpose  had 
been  fruitless.  Not  one  of  the  Indians  would  receive  the 
presents." 

We  next  find  the  subject  of  this  notice  in  collision  with  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  York.  In  his  reply  to  a  letter 
from  that  body,  dated  July  8th,  he  says :  —  "  As  to  the  endea 
vors  you  speak  of,  to  reconcile  the  unhappy  differences  between 
the  Parent  State  and  these  Colonies,  be  assured  I  ardently  wish 
to  see  them.  As  yet,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  discover  any  attempt  of  that  kind,  but  that  of  the  Assem 
bly's,  the  only  true  legal  representatives  of  the  people;  and  as 
to  the  individuals  who  you  say  officiously  interrupt,  in  my 
quarter,  the  mode  and  measures  you  think  necessary  for  these 


392  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

salutary  purposes,  I  am  really  a  stranger  to  them.  If  you 
mean  myself,  you  must  have  been  grossly  imposed  on.  I  once, 
indeed,  went  with  reluctance,  at  the  request  of  several  of  the 
principal  inhabitants,  to  one  of  the  people's  meetings,  which  I 
found  had  been  called  by  an  itinerant  New  England  leather- 
dresser,  and  conducted  by  others,  if  possible,  more  contempti 
ble.  I  had,  therefore,  little  inclination  to  revisit  such  men,  or 
attend  to  their  absurdities."  In  conclusion,  and  in  allusion  to 
the  fears  that  his  influence  would  be  used  to  excite  the  Indians 
to  hostilities,  he  remarks  ;  "I  trust  I  shall  Always  manifest  more 
humanity  than  to  promote  the  destruction  of  the  innocent 
inhabitants  of  a  Colony  to  which  I  have  been  always  warmly 
attached,  a  declaration  that  must  appear  perfectly  suitable  to 
the  character  of  a  man  of  honor  and  principle,  who  can  on  no 
account  neglect  those  duties  that  are  consistent  therewith, 
however  they  may  differ  from  sentiments  now  adopted  in  so 
many  parts  of  America." 

Notwithstanding  the  many  and  the  explicit  assurances  of 
Colonel  Johnson,  Brant,  the  acknowledged  chief  of  the  Six 
Nations,  joined  the  royal  standard;  and  whatever  were  the 
Colonel's  own  purposes  and  intentions,  the  force  of  circum 
stances  or  his  own  inclination  induced  him  to  retire  to  Canada, 
and  thence  to  repair  to  scenes  of  savage  warfare  ;  and  his 
name  appears  in  the  bloody  exploits  of  the  Mohawk  chieftain, 
and  the  miscreant  Butler.  That,  at  the  time  he  was  in  com 
munication  with  the  Committees  of  Albany,  Schenectady,  and 
Tryon  County,  and  with  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
York,  he  was  also  in  communication  with  Brant,  seems  cer 
tain.  The  chief  who  signed  himself  "  secretary  to  Guy  John 
son,"  wrote  the  Oneidas  in  the  Mohawk  tongue,  thus  :  "  Writ 
ten  at  Guy  Johnson's,  May,  1775.  This  is  your  letter,  you 
great  ones  or  sachems.  Guy  Johnson  says  he  will  be  glad  if 
you  get  this  intelligence,  you  Oneidas,  how  it  goes  with  him 
now,  and  he  is  now  more  certain  of  the  intention  of  the  Boston 
people.  Guy  Johnson  is  in  great  fear  of  being  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Bostonians.  We  Mohawks  are  obliged  to  watch  him 
constantly,"  &c.  This  letter  was  found  in  an  Indian  path, 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  393 

and  was  lost,  as  was  supposed,  by  the  person  to  whom  it  had 
been  entrusted.  It  is  certain,  too,  that  Johnson,  Brant,  and 
the  Butlers,  —  father  and  son,  —  fled  to  Canada  together. 
Colonel  Johnson  in  1780  was  about  forty  years  of  age;  and  is 
described  "as  being  a  short,  pursy  man,  of  stern  countenance 
and  haughty  demeanor,  —  dressed  in  a  British  uniform,  pow 
dered  locks,  ano^a  cocked  hat."  His  mansion, — Guy  Park,— 
is  still  (1840)  standing.  It  is  of  stone,  and  situated  about  a 
mile  from  the  village  of  Amsterdam,  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Mohawk.  The  Western  Railroad  passes  a  few  rods  north,  and 
in  front  of  it.  His  estate  was  confiscated.  In  1784  he  was  in 
England,  a  petitioner  for  relief. 

JOHNSON,  SIR  JOHN.  Knight  and  baronet,  was  the  son  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,  to  whose  estates  and  title  he  succeeded, 
and  to  whose  office  of  major  general  in  the  militia  of  New 
York  he  was  appointed  in  November  of  1774.  The  father,  we 
have  seen,  was  removed  from  the  difficulties  which  attended  an 
elevated  position  in  society  at  the  revolutionary  era,  before  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  ;  and  a  brief  notice  of  the  career  of 
the  son  will  show,  that  these  difficulties  were  neither  few  nor 
easily  surmounted.  The  office  of  general  superintendent  of 
Indian  affairs,  on  the  death  of  Sir  William,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  (who  married  a  daughter  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,)  but  in  other  respects,  the  new  baronet 
was  the  heir,  not  only  of  his  parent's  fortune  and  honors,  but 
of  his  cares,  perplexities  and  perils.  Of  the  early  life  of  Sir 
John,  not  much  appears  to  be  known ;  he,  however,  served 
under  his  father,  and  acquired  considerable  military  experi 
ence.  He  was  not  as  popular  as  Sir  William,  being  less  social 
and  less  acquainted  with  human  nature ;  and  failed  to  secure 
in  so  pre-eminent  a  degree  the  affections  of  the  retainers  of 
Johnson-Hall,  and  of  the  Indian  tribes.  Yet  he  took  means  to 
secure  the  favor  of  the  latter.  On  the  25th  July,  1775,  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Alexander  White,  of  New  York,  from  Johnson- 
Hall,  thus:- 

"Dear  Sir:  —  The  bearers  will  deliver  you  some  provi 
sions  and  clothes,  and  Mr.  Clement  will  give  you  a  paper 


394  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

containing  a  ten  pound  note,  which  I  received  from  Mrs.  White 
this  morning.  The  Indians  having  desired  some  cash  from  me 
to  expend  when  they  come  among  the  inhabitants  of  Canada, 
which  I  have  not  to  give  them,  I  must  beg  you  to  supply 
them,  and  charge  it  to  Colonel  Johnson,"  &c. 

His  official  relations  and  supposed  political  sympathies 
caused  a  strict  watch  to  be  kept  upon  his  movements,  and 
early  in  1776  a  Whig  force  of  some  hundreds  under  command 
of  General  Schuyler,  was  despatched  to  Tryon  County,  to 
counteract  his  reported  designs,  to  disarm  the  Loyalists  said  to 
be  embodied  there,  and  to  obtain  satisfactory  assurances  for 
the  future  good  conduct  of  the  baronet  and  his  friends  and  de 
pendents.  The  General  executed  these  delicate  and  responsi 
ble  duties  in  a  manner  highly  satisfactory  to  Congress,  and 
received  a  vote  of  thanks.  Reluctant  to  proceed  to  extremi 
ties,  he  opened  a  correspondence  with  Sir  John,  and  proposed 
an  arrangement  by  which  the  shedding  of  blood  would  be 
spared,  and  the  objects  of  his  mission  be  accomplished.  After 
some  modification  of  the  original  terms,  an  accommodation 
was  effected  by  which  Sir  John  stipulated  to  a  pacific  line  of 
conduct,  and  to  remain  within  certain  prescribed  limits*  on  his 
parole  of  honor.  For  some  unexplained  reason,  this  agreement 
was  soon  violated,  and  the  Whigs  attempted  to  secure  the  bar 
onet's  person.  Sir  John,  learning  of  this  intention,  hastily 
secured  his  most  valuable  effects,  and  fled  to  the  woods  with 
about  seven  hundred  followers,  determined  to  proceed  to  Can 
ada.  After  enduring  almost  every  imaginable  hardship  and 
deprivation,  he  and  the  principal  part  of  his  associates  arrived 
at  Montreal. 

He  was  soon  commissioned  a  colonel,  and  raised  two  battal 
ions  of  Loyalists,  who  bore  the  designation  of  the  Royal 
Greens.  From  the  time  of  organizing  this  corps,  he  became  one 
of  the  most  active,  arid  one  of  the  bitterest  foes  that  the  Whigs 
encountered  during  the  contest ;  so  true  is  it,  as  was  said  by  the 
wise  man  of  Israel,  that  "  A  brother  offended  is  harder  to  be 
won  than  a  strong  city ;  and  their  contentions  are  like  the  bars 
of  a  castle."  Sir  John  was  in  several  regular  and  fairly 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  395 

conducted  battles.  He  invested  Fort  Stanwix  in  1777,  and  de 
feated  the  brave  General  Herkimer,  and  in  1780  was  himself  de 
feated  by  General  Yan  Rensselaer  at  Fox's  mills.  In  predatory 
enterprises,  the  Royal  Greens  enjoy  an  infamous  celebrity. 
They  committed  quite  every  enormity  known  in  savage  war 
fare.  Their  own  former  neighbors  and  friends  on  the  Mohawk 
were  objects  of  their  sweetest  revenge,  and  suffered  even  more 
at  their  hands  than  strangers ;  and  the  chieftain  Brant,  though 
he  be  compelled  to  bear  the  worst,  and  all  of  the  charges 
which  have  been  made  against  him  and  his  warriors,  will  not 
answer  to  posterity  for  any  darker  or  more  damning  deeds 
than  those  which  the  Royal  Greens  perpetrated.  Upon  one 
occasion,  their  colonel  was  thus  addressed  by  Mr.  Sammons, 
an  aged  and  respectable  Whig.  "See  what  you  have  done, 
Sir  John.  You  have  taken  myself  and  my  sons  prison 
ers,  burnt  my  dwelling  to  ashes,  and  left  the  helpless  mem 
bers  of  my  family  with  no  covering  but  the  heavens  above, 
and  no  prospect  but  desolation  around  them.  Did  we  treat 
you  in  this  manner  when  you  were  in  the  power  of  the  Tryon 
County  Committee?  Do  you  remember  when  we  were  con 
sulted  by  General  Schuyler,  and  you  agreed  to  surrender  your 
arms  ?  Do  you  not  remember  that  you  then  agreed  to  re 
main  neutral,  and  that  upon  that  condition  General  Schuyler 
left  you  at  liberty  on  your  parole  ?  These  conditions  you 
violated.  You  went  off  to  Canada ;  enrolled  yourself  in  the 
service  of  the  king ;  raised  a  regiment  of  the  disaffected,  who 
abandoned  their  country  with  you  j  and  you  have  now  re 
turned  to  wage  a  cruel  war  against  us,  by  burning  our  dwell 
ings,  and  robbing  us  of  our  property.  I  was  your  friend  in 
the  Committee  of  Safety,"  continued  the  bold  Whig,  "and 
exerted  myself  to  save  your  person  from  injury.  And  how 
am  I  requited  ?  Your  Indians  have  murdered  and  scalped  old 
Mr.  Fonda  at  the  age  of  eighty  years ;  a  man  who,  I  have 
heard  your  father  say,  was  like  a  father  to  him  when  he  set 
tled  in  Johnstown  and  Kingsborough.  You  cannot  be  suc 
cessful,  Sir  John,  in  such  a  warfare,  and  you  will  never  enjoy 
your  property  more." 


396  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

In  the  flight  of  the  baronet  from  the  Hall  in  1776,  Lady 
Johnson  and  the  family  papers,  plate,  and  bible,  were  left 
behind.  An  incident  with  regard  to  each  will  show  the  state 
and  necessities  of  the  times.  Her  Ladyship,  —  who  was  Mary 
Watts,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  daughter  of  Honorable  John 
Watts,  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  sister  of 
the  late  venerable  John  Watts,  who  died  in  September,  1836, — 
was  removed  to  Albany,  where  it  was  designed  by  the  local 
Whig  authorities,  that  she  should  be  detained  as  a  kind  of 
hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  her  husband.  She  solicited 
the  Commander-in-chief  to  release  her,  but  Washington  de 
clined  to  interfere.  Lady  Johnson  possessed  much  beauty, 
understanding,  and  vivacity.  Her  playful  humor  exhilarated 
the  whole  household.  The  papers  were  buried  in  an  iron 
chest,  and  in  1778  General  Haldimand,  at  the  request  of  Sir 
John,  sent  a  party  of  men  to  carry  them  away.  On  taking 
them  up,  they  were  found  to  be  mouldy,  rotten,  and  illegible, 
in  consequence  of  the  dampness  which  had  been  admitted 
through  the  open  joints  of  the  chest.  To  recover  the  silver, 
the  baronet  in  1780  went  to  Johnstown  himself.  It  was  found 
where  a  faithful  slave  had  buried  it,  and  was  transferred  to 
the  knapsacks  of  about  forty  soldiers,  who  took  it  to  Montreal. 
The  devotion  of  the  slave  is  worthy  of  remembrance.  He 
had  long  lived  with  Sir  John's  father,  who  was  so  much  at 
tached  to  him,  that  he  caused  him  to  be  baptized  by  his  own 
name  of  William.  When  the  estate  was  confiscated  by  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  William  formed  a  part  of 
it,  and  was  sold,  but  finally,  by  a  re-purchase  or  otherwise, 
returned  to  the  baronet's  family.  While  he  remained  with  his 
purchaser,  who  was  a  Whig,  he  never  gave  the  least  hint  as 
to  the  valuables  of  Sir  John,  though  he  had  secreted  them  all. 
The  family  bible  was  sold  with  the  furniture  by  auction  at 
Fort  Hunter.  John  Taylor,  late  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New 
York,  was  the  purchaser  of  the  sacred  volume,  and  on  discov 
ering  that  it  contained  the  family  record,  he  wrote  a  civil  note 
to  Sir  John,  offering  to  restore  it.  Some  time  afterward,  a 
messenger  from  the  baronet  called  for  the  bible,  but  did  his 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  397 

errand  in  a  manner  rude  and  offensive.  "  I  have  come,"  said 
he,  "  for  Sir  William's  bible,  and  there  are  the  four  guineas 
which  it  cost."  On  being  asked  what  word  Sir  John  had  sent, 
he  replied,  "  to  pay  four  guineas,  and  take  the  book." 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  contest,  Sir  John  Johnson  went 
to  England,  but  returned  in  1785,  and  established  his  residence 
in  Canada.  He  was  appointed  superintendent  general  and 
inspector  general  of  Indian  affairs  in  British  North  America, 
and  retained  that  office  until  his  decease;  and  for  several 
years  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  legislative  Council  of 
Canada.  To  compensate  him  for  his  losses,  the  British  gov 
ernment  made  him  several  grants  of  lands.  He  died  of  old 
age,  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Bowes,  his  daughter,  Montreal, 
in  1830,  aged  eighty-eight;  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Sir  Adam  Gordon  Johnson. 

It  is  thought  that  he  was  a  conscientious  Loyalist ;  and  this 
may  be  allowed.  He  lived  in  a  style  of  luxury  and  splendor, 
which  few  country  gentlemen  in  America  possessed  the  means 
to  support.  His  domains  were  as  large  and  as  fair  as  those  of 
any  Colonist  of  his  time,  the  estate  of  Lord  Fairfax  only  ex- 
cepted ;  and  no  American  hazarded  more,  probably,  in  the 
cause  of  the  crown.  Faithfulness  to  duty  is  never  a  crime  ; 
and  if  he  sacrificed  his  home,  his  fortune,  and  his  country, 
for  his  principles,  he  deserves  admiration.  But  all  approba 
tion  of  his  course  during  the  revolutionary  struggle  must  end 
here.  The  conduct  of  the  Whigs  towards  him  may  have 
been  harsh,  and,  in  the  beginning,  too  harsh  for  his  offences. 
There  may  be  room  to  doubt,  whether,  prior  to  the  arrange 
ment  with  General  'Schuyler,  he  did  more  than  any  zealous 
loyal  gentleman  would  consider  he  was  bound  to  do,  to  put 
down  the  disloyal  proceedings  in  his  neighborhood,  and  at  his 
very  door.  The  charges  found  against  him  in  the  documents 
of  the  day,  may,  in  some  particulars,  be  false,  or  highly  col 
ored.  And,  to  allow  to  him  all  the  points  of  defence  which 
can  be  claimed  or  urged,  it  may  be  conceded,  that  the  Loyal 
ists  had  as  much  at  stake  as  the  Whigs,  and  that  the  one 
party  had  the  same  right  to  appear  in  arms  as  the  other.  And 
34 


398  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

it  may  be  admitted  in  his  behalf,  that  though  Sir  John  pledged 
himself  to  remain  neutral  upon  his  parole  of  honor ;  yet,  tha"  t 
as  the  friend  of  existing  institutions,  he  might  freely  break  his 
faith  with  Rebels.  But  there  still  remains  unanswered,  the 
very  grave  question,  whether,  as  a  civilized  man,  he  was  not 
bound  to  observe  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare.  The  Baronet's 
fame,  even  though  the  Loyalists'  course  of  reasoning  be  fol 
lowed  throughout,  can  never  be  redeemed  from  the  blight 
which  rests  upon  it.  His  eldest  son,  Colonel  William  Johnson, 
inspecting  field  officer  of  the  militia  of  Canada,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  of  His  Majesty's  twenty-eighth  regiment  of 
foot,  died  at  Montreal  in  1812,  aged  thirty-seven. 

JOHNSON,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Went  to  England,  and 
was  in  London  in  1779. 

JOHNSON,  MARTIN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Was  a  loyal 
Declarator  in  1775. 

JOHNSON,  MARTIN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In 
1776  he  signed  an  acknowledgment  of  allegiance. 

JOHNSON,  NATHANIEL.  Residence  unknown.  Died  at  Sussex, 
King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1830,  aged  eighty-eight 
years. 

JOHNSON,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be  armed, 
in  1780  ;  was  banished  and  lost  his  estate  in  1782. 

JOHNSON,  SAMUEL.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Resided  at  York,  and 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  was  Prothonotary  and  Clerk  of  the 
Quarter  Sessions  of  the  County.  He  was  twice  married  ;  his 
second  wife  was  a  lady  from  Maryland.  His  office  of  Protho 
notary  was  conferred  by  the  Governor,  and  in  1775  was  worth 
£150. 

JOHNSON,  SAMUEL  and  WILLIAM.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  In  1780,  were  in  arms  on  the  side  of  the  crown. 

JOHNSON,  SIR  WILLIAM,  BARONET.  A  major-general  of  the 
militia  of  New  York,  Superintendent-general  of  Indian  Affairs, 
&c.  Was  born  in  Ireland,  about  the  year  1714  His  uncle, 
Sir  Peter  Warren,  a  naval  officer  of  distinguished  merit,  mar 
ried  a  lady  of  New  York,  and  purchased  a  considerable  tract 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  399 

of  country  in  the  interior  of  that  Colony,  and  induced  him  to 
come  to  America  to  take  charge  of  his  affairs,  when  at  about  the 
age  of  twenty.  Johnson  established  his  residence  on  the  Mo 
hawk,  and  applying  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Indian  charac 
ter  and  language,  soon  acquired  an  ascendency  over  the  native 
tribes,  that  has  never,  probably,  been  surpassed.  His  rise  in 
affairs  was  rapid.  In  1755  he  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  Colonial  forces  of  New  York,  destined  to  operate  against  the 
French,  and  for  his  services  was  created  a  Baronet,  and  received 
a  grant  of  £5000  in  money.  But  his  right  to  rewards  so  munifi 
cent  has  been  severely,  and  perhaps  not  improperly  disputed, 
since  his  success  at  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  which  was  his 
principal  claim  to  the  royal  regard,  was  mainly  due  to  the  exer 
tions  and  good  conduct  of  the  brave  General  Lyman,  of  Con 
necticut,  after  he  was  wounded.  In  1759,  and  in  1760,  Sir  Wil 
liam's  military  operations  were  highly  beneficial  to  the  crown 
and  he  retired  at  the  close  of  the  French  war,  in  much  favor. 
He  had  been  able  to  organize  an  Indian  force  of  one  thousand 
men,  a  greater  number  than  had  ever  before  been  seen  in  arms 
at  one  time  in  the  cause  of  England.  Sir  William  possessed 
talents  as  an  orator,  and  deeply  impressed  the  Indians  with 
his  powers ;  and  his  shrewdness  in  treating  and  dealing  with 
them,  is  said  to  have  been  remarkable.  Allen  relates,  that  on 
his  receiving  from  England  some  finely  laced  clothes,  the 
Mohawk  Chief,  Hendrick,  became  possessed  with  the  desire  of 
equalling  the  Baronet  in  the  splendor  of  his  apparel,  and  with 
a  demure  face  pretended  to  have  dreamed  that  Sir  William 
had  presented  him  with  a  suit  of  the  decorated  garments.  As 
the  solemn  hint  could  not  be  mistaken  or  avoided,  the  Indian 
monarch  was  gratified,  and  went  away  highly  pleased  with 
the  success  of  his  device.  But,  alas  for  Hendrick's  short 
sighted  sagacity,  for  in  a  few  days  Sir  William,  in  turn,  had  a 
dream,  to  the  effect  that  the  Chief  had  given  him  several 
thousand  acres  of  land.  "  The  land  is  yours,"  said  Hendrick, 
"but  now,  Sir  William,  I  never  dream  with  you  again;  you 
dream  too  hard  for  me." 

The  Baronet's  seat  was  Johnson  Hall,  Johnstown,  Tryon 


400  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

County,  New  York,  about  twenty-four  miles  from  Schenec- 
tady,  on  the  Mohawk  river.  He  died  there  suddenly,  July  11, 
1774,  aged  sixty  years.  Owing  to  his  influence,  and  that  of 
his  family  and  connexions,  there  were  more  Loyalists,  proba 
bly,  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  the  population  considered, 
than  in  any  other  section  of  the  northern  Colonies. 

As  the  revolutionary  troubles  progressed,  the  unhappiness 
of  Sir  William  is  represented  to  have  been  very  great.  And 
it  is  said,  that  no  inconsiderable  part  of  his  sorrow  arose  from 
the  contest  within  his  own  bosom,  between  his  love  of  liberty 
and  sympathy  with  the  oppressions  of  the  people,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  duty  which  he  owed  the  sovereign  whom  he 
had  long  served,  and  whose  rewards  had  been  princely,  on  the 
other.  It  has  been  asserted,  even,  that  his  distress  of  mind 
became  insupportable,  and  that  he  died  by  his  own  hand. 
The  tradition  is,  that  on  the  day  of  his  decease  he  received  de 
spatches  which  showed  that  civil  war  was  inevitable  and  near; 
while  another  version  is,  that  these  despatches  required  of  him 
the  use  of  his  influence  with  the  Indian  tribes  to  secure  their 
services  to  the  crown  in  the  event  of  blows.  That  the  em 
ployments,  and  news,  of  the  last  day  of  his  life,  deeply  excited 
him,  there  is  sufficient  proof;  but,  as  his  system  was  predis 
posed  to  apoplexy,  and  as  he  was  seized  with  a  fit  and  lin 
gered  some  hours,  it  is  very  uncertain  whether  he  committed 
suicide.  Some  weight,  however,  appears  to  have  been  given 
to  his  declaration  in  the  spring  of  1774,  and  soon  after  his 
return  from  England,  in  substance,  that  he  "  should  never  live 
to  see  the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country  in  a  state  of  open 
war"  That  this  declaration  was  made  with  a  view  to  self- 
destruction,  is  possible,  yet  a  man  who  had  so  much  at  stake, 
was  far  more  likely  to  have  spoken  it  as  expressive  of  his 
strong  hope  of  the  final  accommodation  of  the  difficulties 
which  existed. 

Sir  William  was  uncommonly  tall  and  well  made.  His 
countenance  was  fine,  but  melancholy ;  and  he  possessed  a 
remarkable  command  of 'it,  under  the  most  exciting  circum 
stances.  Johnson  Hall  is  still  (1842)  standing,  and  is 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  401 

occupied  by  Mr.  Wells.  In  Sir  William's  time  it  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  stone  breast- work.  The  hall  itself  is  of  wood, 
but  the  wings  are  of  stone.  The  two  daughters  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  were  educated  almost  in  solitude,  and  in  the  following 
singular  manner.  Their  mother  died  when  they  were  young, 
and  bequeathed  them  to  the  care  of  a  friend,  who  was  the 
widow  of  an  officer  killed  in  battle.  She  retired  from  the 
world,  and  devoted  herself  to  her  fair  pupils ;  to  whom  she 
taught  the  nicest  and  most  ingenious  kinds  of  needle- work, 
and  reading  and  writing.  In  the  morning,  the  two  girls  rose 
early,  read  their  Bible,  fed  their  birds,  tended  their  flowers, 
and  breakfasted.  Later  in  the  day,  they  employed  themselves 
with  their  needles,  and  in  reading.  After  dinner,  in  summer, 
they  regularly  took  a  long  walk,  and  in  the  winter  they  rode 
a  distance  upon  a  sledge.  Thus  uniformly  passed  their  lives, 
year  after  year ;  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  they  had  read  no 
books  except  the  Scriptures,  their  prayer-book,  some  romances, 
and  Rollin's  Ancient  History ;  nor  had  they  ever  seen  a  lady, 
except  their  mother  and  her  friend.  Their  dress  was  quite  as 
uniform  as  their  habits  of  life.  And  though  they  continually 
made  articles  of  ornament,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  day, 
they  wore  none  of  them,  but  summer  and  winter,  and  without 
the  least  change,  appeared  in  wrappers  of  the  finest  chintz, 
and  green-silk  petticoats.  Their  hair,  which  was  long  and 
beautiful,  they  tied  behind  with  a  simple  riband.  In  summer, 
they  covered  their  heads  with  a  large  calash ;  in  winter,  long 
scarlet  mantles  completely  enveloped  their  persons.  Sir 
William  did  not  live  with  them,  but  visited  their  apartment 
daily.  One  married  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  the  other  Colonel 
Daniel  Glaus.  Their  manners  soon  became  polished,  they 
soon  acquired  the  habits  of  society,  and  made  excellent  wives. 

JOHNSON,  UZAEL.    Of  New  Jersey.    Was  surgeon  of  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

JOHNSON,  .     Of  Georgia.     A  stanch  government  man  ; 

held  a  military  commission  in  the  royal  service. 

JOHNSTON,  ALEXANDER  and  JOHN.    Of  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina.     Were  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 
34* 


402  'BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

JOHNSTON,  CHARLES.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  Congratu- 
lator  of  Lord  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780. 
Banished  and  estate  confiscated  in  1782. 

JOHNSTON,  or  JOHNSTONE,  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York. 
Was  a  loyal  Declarator  in  1775.  In  1782,  the  surgeon  of 
De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion  was  John  Johnston. 

JOHNSTON,  LEWIS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  banished  and 
attainted,  and  his  estate  confiscated.  In  1794  he  represented 
to  the  British  government,  by  his  attorney,  John  Irvine, 
Esquire,  that,  at  the  time  of  his  banishment,  several  large 
debts  were  due  to  him  in  America,  which  he  had  not  been  able 
to  recover.  It  appears  to  have  been  conceded  that  the  confis 
cation  acts  did  not  embrace  sums  of  money  owing  to  proscribed 
Loyalists,  though  many  of  them  found  great  difficulty  in  en 
forcing  payment. 

JOHNSTON,  THOMAS  and  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Thomas 
died  at  Frederickton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1799 ;  and  John,  in 
the  county  of  Westmoreland,  New  Brunswick,  in  1803. 

JOHNSTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Georgia.  Was  an  ensign  in  the 
Georgia  Loyalists,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 

JOHNSTON,  WILLIAM  M.  and  ALEXANDER.  Residence  unknown. 
William  M.  was  a  captain,  and  Alexander  a  lieutenant,  in  the 
New  York  Volunteers. 

JOHONNET,  PETER.  Distiller,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He 
went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  thence  to  England,  and  was  a  Loy 
alist  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779.  He  died  at  London  in 
1809. 

JOICE,  ISAAC.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

JONES,  CALEB.  He  served  under  the  crown,  and  in  1782  was 
a  captain  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists.  He  went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
He  received  half-pay.  Elisabeth,  his  wife,  died  at  St.  John  in 
1812,  aged  sixty-eight. 

JONES,  ISAAC.  Of  Weston,  Massachusetts.  Innholder  and 
trader.  In  January,  1775,  the  Whig  Convention  of  Worcester 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  403 

County  denounced  him  in  the  following  terms.  "  Resolved, 
That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  the  inhabitants  of 
this  County,  not  to  have  any  commercial  connections  with 
Isaac  Jones,  but  to  shun  his  house  and  person,  and  to  treat 
him  with  the  contempt  he  deserves ;  and  should  any  persons 
in  this  County  be  so  lost  to  a  sense  of  their  duty,  after  this 
recommendation,  as  to  have  any  commercial  connections  with 
the  said  Tories,  we  do  advise  the  inhabitants  of  this  County 
to  treat  such  persons  with  the  utmost  neglect."  He  died  at 
Weston  in  1813,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 

JONES,  JOSIAH.  Physician,  of  Weston,  Massachusetts.  He 
joined  the  British  army  at  Boston  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington  in  1775,  and  was  sent  by  General  Gage,  in  the  sloop 
Polly,  to  Nova  Scotia,  to  procure  hay  and  other  articles  for  the 
use  of  the  troops.  On  the  passage  he  was  made  prisoner,  and 
sent  by  the  Committee  of  Arundel,  Maine,  to  the  Provincial 
Congress ;  and  after  due  investigation  of  his  case  by  a  com 
mittee  of  that  body,  he  was  committed  to  jail  at  Concord. 
Obtaining  release  after  some  months  imprisonment,  he  again 
joined  the  royal  forces,  and  received  an  appointment  in  the 
commissary  department.  In  1752  he  went  to  Annapolis, 
Nova  Scotia,  where  he  settled.  He  made  a  voyage  to  Eng 
land  to  obtain  half-pay,  and  was  successful.  He  was  senior 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  An 
napolis  many  years.  He  died  in  1825  at  Annapolis,  aged 
eighty ;  and  Margaret  Jude.  his  widow,  died  at  Digby,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1828,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  Four  children  sur 
vived  him,  namely,  Stephen,  who  resides  in  Canada ;  Charlotte, 
the  wife  of  Doctor  Thomas  White,  of  Westport,  Nova  Scotia ; 
Charles,  a  merchant  of  Halifax ;  and  Edward,  a  merchant  of 
Westport.  His  property  in  Massachusetts  was  confiscated. 
Doctor  Jones  was  a  man  of  good  powers,  and  of  a  cultivated 
mind.  His  family  retain  the  impression  that  he  was  educated 
at  Harvard  University,  but  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the 
catalogue  of  graduates. 

JONES,  SAMUEL.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 


404  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

JONES,  SIMEON.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's 
American  Dragoons.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot  in  1784.  He 
removed  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  at  Weymouth  in  1823,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two.  He  received  half-pay.  A  Loyalist 
of  this  name,  who  was  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
of  the  County  of  Cheshire,  was  proscribed  and  banished  in 
New  Hampshire,  in  1778. 

JONES,  STEPHEN.  He  accepted  a  commission  under  the 
crown,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  King's  American  Dragoons. 
He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia  at  the  close  of  the  contest,  and  at 
his  decease,  was  the  oldest  magistrate  of  the  County  of  An 
napolis.  His  father  was  Colonel  Elisha  Jones,  and  he  was 
the  last  survivor  of  fourteen  sons.  He  died  at  Weymouth  in 
1830,  aged  seventy-six. 

JONES,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  By  his  marriage  of  a 
daughter  of  Lieutenant  Governor  James  De  Lancey,  and  a 
sister  of  the  wife  of  the  celebrated  Sir  William  Draper,  he 
became  connected  also  with  the  families  of  Sir  Peter  Warren 
of  the  British  navy,  and  of  Sir  William  Johnson  of  New 
York.  At  the  Revolutionary  era,  he  was  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  in  consequence  of  his  adherence  to  the 
royal  cause,  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act.  In 
1779,  in  retaliation  for  the  capture  of  General  Silliman  by 
Glover  and  others,  a  party  of  Whigs  determined  to  seize  upon 
Judge  Jones  at  his  seat  on  Long  Island.  Twenty-five  volun 
teered  for  the  purpose  under  command  of  Captain  Daniel 
Hawley,  of  Newficld  (now  Bridgeport),  Connecticut.  Hawley 
and  his  associates  crossed  the  Sound  on  the  night  of  Novem 
ber  4th,  and  reached  Judge  Jones's  house  —  a  distance  of  fifty- 
two  miles  —  on  the  evening  of  the  6th.  There  was  a  ball, 
and  the  music  and  dancing  prevented  an  alarm.  The  Judge 
was  standing  in  his  entry  when  the  assailants  opened  the 
door,  and  was  taken  prisoner  and  borne  off.  A  party  of  royal 
soldiers  was  near,  and  Jones  in  passing,  hemmed  very  loud  to 
attract  their  attention.  Hawley  told  him  not  to  repeat  the 
sound,  but  he  disobeyed,  and  was  threatened  with  death, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  405 

unless  he  desisted  from  further  endeavors  to  induce  the  sol 
diers  to  come  to  his  rescue.  Though  six  of  the  Whigs  were 
captured  by  a  troop  of  horse,  the  remainder  of  the  party  car 
ried  their  prisoner  safely  to  Connecticut.  The  lady  of  General 
Silliman  invited  the  Judge  to  breakfast,  and  he  not  only 
accepted  of  her  hospitality  for  the  morning,  but  continued  her 
guest  for  several  days.  But  he  remained  gloomy,  distant,  and 
reserved.  In  May,  1780,  the  object  of  his  seizure  was  accom 
plished  ;  the  British  commander  having,  at  that  tinre,  con 
sented  to  give  up  General  Silliman  and  his  son,  in  exchange 
for  the  Judge  and  a  Mr.  Hewlett, —  the  Whigs,  however, 
throwing  in  as  a  sort  of  make-weight,  one  Washburn,  a  Tory 
of  infamous  character.  Judge  Jones  retired  to  England,  and 
there  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and,  as  it  is  believed,  in 
retirement. 

JONES.  Loyalists  of  this  name  were  numerous ;  in  addition 
to  the  above,  some  were  as  follows  :  — 

JONES.  David,  tavern-keeper  and  constable,  of  Philadel 
phia  ;  Jesse,  of  Bensalem,  County  of  Bucks ;  Jonathan,  and 
Edward,  of  Hilston,  were  severally  ordered,  in  1778,  to  sur 
render  themselves  for  trial,  or  stand  attainted  of  treason. 
Abel,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  tried  in  1778  for  supplying  the 
royal  forces  with  money,  for  trading  with  them,  and  for  buy 
ing  and  passing  counterfeit  and  continental  money.  He  was 
found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  receive  one  hundred  lashes  on 
his  bare  back,  to  be  sent  to  some  public  place  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  to  be  kept  at  hard  labor  during  the  war. 

JONES,  DAVID.  Of  Connecticut.  Suffered  much  at  the  hands 
of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  in  1775;  and  the  Reverend  Doctor  Peters 
of  Hebron,  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  recommended  that  he 
u  should  draught  a  narrative  of  his  woes,"  to  be  sent  to  him 
at  Boston.  This,  as  I  suppose,  was  the  David  Jones  who 
entered  the  royal  service,  and  was  a  captain.  If  so,  he  was 
to  have  married  the  beautiful  Jane  McCrea,  whose  cruel  death 
in  1777,  by  the  Indians  whom  he  sent  to  convey  her  to  the 
British  camp,  is  universally  known  and  lamented.  Captain 
Jones  survived  her  but  a  few  years,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
died  of  grief  for  her  loss. 


406  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

JONES,  ELISHA.  Of  Pittsneld,  Massachusetts.  Was  committed 
to  the  jail  at  Northampton  in  1775,  on  the  charge  of  holding 
improper  communications  with  General  Gage  at  Boston  ;  and 
in  1778  was  proscribed  and  banished.  Ephraim  and  Jonas, 
of  East  Hoosuck,  were  also  included  in  the  banishment  act. 

JONES,  JOSEPH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

JONES,  OWEN,  Junior.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was 
apprehended  and  ordered  to  Virginia,  as  a  prisoner  of  the 
Whigs.  In  1775,  a  person  who  was  styled  Owen  Jones, 
Esquire,  was  Provincial  Treasurer,  with  a  salary  of  £300: 

JONES, .  Of  Ridgefield,  Connecticut.  Was  executed  by 

General  Putnam  in  1779,  at  a  place  called  Gallows  Hill.  The 
scene  is  described  as  shocking.  "  The  man  on  whom  the  duty 
of  hangman  devolved  left  the  camp,  and  on  the  day  of  execu 
tion  could  not  be  found.  A  couple  of  boys,  about  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  were  ordered  by  General  Putnam  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  absconding  hangman.  The  gallows  was  about 
twenty  feet  from  the  ground.  Jones  was  compelled  to  ascend 
the  ladder,  and  the  rope  around  his  neck  was  attached  to  the 
cross  beam.  General  Putnam  then  ordered  Jones  to  jump  from 
the  ladder.  i  No,  General  Putnam,'  said  Jones,  '  I  am  inno 
cent  of  the  crime  laid  to  my  charge ;  I  shall  not  do  it.'  Put 
nam  then  ordered  the  boys  before  mentioned  to  turn  the  ladder 
over.  These  boys  were  deeply  affected  with  the  trying  scene ; 
they  cried  and  sobbed  loudly,  and  earnestly  entreated  to  be 
excused  from  doing  anything  on  this  distressing  occasion. 
Putnam,  drawing  his  sword,  ordered  them  forward,  and  com 
pelled  them  at  the  sword's  point  to  obey  his  orders." 

JONES.  Seven  in  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged 
allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit :  Nicholas,  Peter,  Samuel, 
William,  David,  John,  and  Walter.  Nicholas  Jones  had  sign 
ed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  the  year  before. 

JONES.  Residence  unknown.  A  Captain  Jones  commanded 
a  small  Tory  Privateer,  and  was  a  man  of  violence  and  cruelty. 
Laurence  Jones  was  an  ensign  in  the  New  York  Volunteers; 
and  William,  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Carolina. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  407 

Samuel,  a  lieutenant  in  the  king's  service,  (and  probably  of 
Westchester  County,  New  York)  ;  and  Naaham,  were  grantees 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783 ;  and  last,  Edward  Jones, 
who  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the  peace,  died  at  Spoon 
Island  in  that  Colony,  1831,  aged  eighty-eight. 

JORDAN,  JOHN,  FRANCIS,  and  JAMES.  Removed  to  New 
Brunswick  in  1783.  John  and  Francis  were  grantees  of  St. 
John.  James  died  in  that  city  in  1846,  aged  eighty-five 
years. 

JOSTLIN,  ANDREW.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Arrived  at  St,  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

JOUETTE  or  JEWETT,  ZENOPHON.  Of  New  Jersey.  In  1782 
he  was  an  ensign  in  the  First  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volun 
teers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay. 
In  1792  he  held  the  office  of  sheriff  of  York  County.  He 
relinquished  the  post  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  at 
tached  to  a  regiment  raised  in  that  Colony.  He  was  gentle 
man  usher  of  the  black  rod  to  the  Council  many  years.  He 
died  at  St.  John  in  1843. 

JOY,  JOHN.  House- wright,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  In  1776  he  went 
to  Halifax,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  In 
1779  he  was  in  England. 

JUDD.  Samuel  Judd,  and  his  son  Samuel ;  Jonathan  Judd, 
and  William  Judd,  of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Mem 
bers  of  the  Reading  Association. 

JUDSON,  CHAPMAN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  grantee  of  a  city  lot.  He  received  an 
appointment  in  the  ordnance  department.  He  died  at  St. 
John  in  1817,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 

JUDSON,  JOSEPH.  Of  Delaware.  Was  proscribed  by  statute 
in  1778. 

JULIN,  G.     Of  South  Carolina.     Estate  confiscated. 

KANE,  BARNARD.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading.  He  entered  the  ser 
vice  of  the  crown,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  New  York  Vol 
unteers. 


408  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

KANE,  JOHN.    Of  New  York.     His  property  was  confiscated. 

KEAN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  adjutant  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Loyalists,  and  settled  in  New  Brunswick  after 
the  corps  was  disbanded.  Ann,  his  widow,  died  at  St.  John 
in  1820,  aged  sixty-four. 

KEARNEY,  FRANCIS.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Loyalists  under  Allen. 

KEARNEY,  MICHAEL.  In  1782  he  was  searcher  in  the  Super 
intendent  Department,  established  at  New  York  in  1777  by 
Sir  William  Howe. 

KEARSLEY,  Doctor  • .  Of  Philadelphia.  A  man  of  ardent 

feelings ;  his  zealous  attachment  to  the  royal  cause,  and  his 
impetuous  temper,  made  him  obnoxious  to  those  whose  acts 
he  opposed.  He  was  seized  at  his  own  house,  tarred  and 
feathered,  and  carted  through  the  streets  to  the  tune  of  the 
Rogue's  March. 

KEECH,  ROBERT.  Of  New  York.  Died  in  Dorchester,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

KEED,  ISAAC.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A  Pro 
tester  at  White  Plains. 

KEEFE,  DANIEL.  At  the  peace  he  was  grantee  of  the  city  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

KELLOCK,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers. 

KELLOGG,  EZRA.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

KELLY.  Waldron  Kelly  was  a  captain  in  the  Royal  Garri 
son  Battalion.  John  Kelley  died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1827,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  William  Kelly  died  at  the 
same  place  the  previous  year,  aged  seventy-four.  John  was 
blind  for  sixteen  years. 

KEMPE,  JOHN  TABOR.  Of  New  York.  He  was  Attorney- 
general  of  the  Colony,  and  considered  to  be  in  office  in  1782. 
His  property  was  confiscated.  The  wife  of  Francis  Lewis,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  having  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  wife  of  Mr.  Kempe  having 
become  a  prisoner  of  the  Whigs,  an  exchange  was  effected 
towards  the  close  of  1776. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  409 

KENAN,  FELIX.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  man  of  whom  it 
was  pithily  said — "  he  had  not  the  independence  to  be  a  Tory, 
or  the  honesty  to  be  a  Whig."  Thousands,  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  were  as  like  him  as  possible. 

KENDELE,  ANTHONY.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  in  the  Super 
intendent  Department  established  at  New  York. 

KENDRICK,  THOMAS.  He  died  on  the  Island  of  Campo  Bello. 
New  Brunswick,  in  1821,  aged  seventy-two. 

KENEN,  L.  A  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  South  Carolina 
Royalists. 

KENNARD,  JOSEPH.  Of  Plumstead,  Pennsylvania.  Ordered 
in  1778  in  Council,  that  he  surrender  and  be  tried  for  treason, 
or  that  he  stand  attainted. 

KENNEDY,  DENNIS.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains,  April,  1775.  ';  A  Captain  Kennedy 
and  wife,  of  New  York,  went  to  England,  and  were  there  in 
1785. 

KENNEDY,  PATRICK.  Accepted  a  commission  under  the 
crown,  and  in  1782  was  a  captain  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists. 
He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  received  half-pay. 

KENNEDY,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1814,  aged  fifty-one. 

KENNEY,  WILLIAM.  At  the  peace  he  was  a  grantee  of  the 
city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

KENNISON,  JUDE.  Of  New  Hampshire.'  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

KENT,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1727.  He  was  minister  at  Marlborough  for  a 
short  time ;  but  entered  upon  the  profession  of  the  law,  and 
established  himself  at  Boston.  He  was  a  Whig,  it  appears, 
for  awhile,  and  his  name  is  to  be  found  among  those  of  Sam 
uel  Adams,  Gushing,  Warren,  Hancock,  and  other  prominent 
leaders  of  the  patriot  band.  A  Refugee ;  he  died  at  Halifax, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1788,  at  an  advanced  age.  He  was  eccentric, 
and  a  wit.  His  conduct  as  a  clergyman  is  said  to  have  been 

35 

if  * 

/VW  jv+Si..     x.     Jl+-f)t 


410  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

unclerical  and  humorous.    Elisabeth,  his  widow,  died  at  Hali 
fax  in  1802. 

KENT,  STEPHEN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  was  a  grantee  of  that  city,  and  died  there  in  1828,  aged 
eighty. 

KERR,  CCORGE.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
First  Battalion. 

KERR,  JAMES.  He  accepted  a  commission  under  the  crown, 
and  was  a  captain  in  the  Queen's  Rangers.  The  corps  was 
disbanded  at  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  retired  on  half- 
pay.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a 
grantee  of  that  city ;  but  removed  to  King's  County,  Nova 
Scotia,  where  he  settled,  and  was  a  colonel  in  the  militia. 
Colonel  Kerr  died  at  Amherst,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1830,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six.  Eliza,  his  widow,  died  at  Corn  wall  is,  Nova 
Scotia,  1840,  aged  seventy-four.  Three  sons  and  a  daughter 
preceded  him,  but  twelve  children  survived  him. 

KERR,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

KETCHAM,  ISAAC.  Of  New  York.  Died  in  King's  County, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1820,  aged  sixty-four.  His  widow  died 
in  1821,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four. 

KEY,  PHILIP  BARTON.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the 
Maryland  Loyalists. 

KING,  EDWARD.  A  Sandemanian,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs. 
Embarked  for  Halifax  with  the  king's  army  in  1776.  Samuel, 
also  of  Boston,  accompanied  him,  and  died  at  Halifax  in  1822. 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one. 

KING,  JOSEPH.  Of  Path  Valley,  Pennsylvania.  Was  or 
dered  by  the  Executive  Council  to  surrender  himself  for  trial, 
or  stand  attainted. 

KING,  COLONEL  RICHARD.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  an  office 
under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  but  died  before 
the  peace.  His  estate  in  the  possession  of  his  heirs  was  con 
fiscated. 

KING.     Residence  unknown.    James,  in  1782,  was  a  captain 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  411 

in  the  Second  American  Regiment.  Daniel  settled  in  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  but  removed  from  that  city  in  1803. 
William,  clerk  in  the  royal  engineer  department,  died  at  Fred- 
ericton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1804.  And  John  died  at  the 
same  place,  1814,  aged  forty-five. 

KINGSBY,  ZEPH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  also  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

KINLOCK,  CLELAND.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

KIPP,  SAMUEL.  Of  New  York.  A  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
Loyal  Refugee  Cavalry.  In  charging  a  body  of  Whigs,  in 
1781,  he  was  wounded  by  a  bayonet,  and  his  horse  was  killed. 

KIPP,  THOMAS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknow 
ledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 

KIRBY,  DANIEL  and  THOMAS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

KIRKHAM,  HUGH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

KIRKLAND,  MOSES.  Of  South  Carolina.  A  man  "whose 
vanity  and  ambition  had  not  been  sufficiently  gratified  by  his 
countrymen."  Early  in  the  contest  he  was  employed  by  Stu 
art,  the  Indian  Agent  of  the  British  authorities  with  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Creeks,  to  concert  measures  with  General  Gage  for 
an  attack  on  the  Southern  States.  The  plan  appears  to  have 
been,  for  the  royal  forces  to  operate  by  sea,  and  the  savages  by 
land.  Kirkland  was  captured  on  his  voyage  to  Boston,  his 
papers  were  seized,  and  the  plot  fully  discovered.  After  the 
surrender  of  Charleston,  in  1780,  he  held  a  royal  commission. 
In  1782  his  estate  was  confiscated.  Kirkland,  at  the  outset, 
was  considered  to  be  a  Whig,  and  his  disaffection  is  said  to 
have  arisen  from  his  being  "  overlooked  by  the  Provincial 
Congress  in  the  military  appointments."  He  changed  sides  in 
the  affair  with  the  Cunninghams,  July,  1775.  At  the  time  of 
his  desertion  he  commanded  a  troop  of  Rangers,  who  followed 
him  to  a  man,  and  by  his  influence  others  in  the  Whig  service 


412  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

joined  the  royal  party.  A  short  time  before  his  defection, 
Kirkland  was  placed  upon  an  important  standing  committee 
raised  by  the  Provincial  Congress  to  act  throughout  the  Colony. 

KISSAM.  Five  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Joseph,  John,  Daniel  the  3d,  D.  W.,  and  Daniel.  In  1780, 
Daniel  Kissam,  Esquire,  of  that  County,  was  an  Addresser  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling.  The  same  year,  Major  Kissam 
was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  Robertson.  In  1781,  the  Major 
and  his  younger  brother,  Benjamin  T.  Kissam,  were  made 
prisoners  at  the  house  of  Justice  Kissam,  North  Hempstead, 
by  a  party  of  Whigs.  Daniel  Kissam  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  in  1774,  and  of  the  House  of 
Assembly  in  1775 ;  and  one  of  the  fourteen  who  in  the  latter 
year  addressed  General  Gage  at  Boston,  on  the  subject  of  the 
unhappy  contest.  In  1779,  the  property  of  Daniel  Kissam 
the  elder  was  confiscated. 

KITCHEN,  THOMAS.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783.  In 
1799  he  was  murdered. 

KITCHING,  JAMES.     Of  Georgia.     Was  in  England  in  1779. 

KNAP.  Moses  Knap,  of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut ;  and 
Andrew,  Jonathan,  and  David,  of  Reading ;  were  members  of 
the  Reading  Association. 

KNAP,  LIEUTENANT  DANIEL.  Of  Westchester  County.  New 
York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

KNEFFIN,  JAMES.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

KNIGHT,  SAMUEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

KNIGHT,  THOMAS.  Shop-keeper,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

KNOWLES,  ISRAEL.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  He  was 
imprisoned  for  his  offences,  real  or  alleged,  in  February,  1778. 

KNOWLES,  S.  Of  Rhode  Island.  His  estate  was  confiscated 
previous  to  the  peace,  and  by  the  act  of  October,  1783,  he  was 
banished  from  the  State,  on  pain  of  death  if  he  returned. 

KNOX,  T.  A  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia,  July,  1783. 
See  Abijah  Willard. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  413 

KNOX,  WILLIAM.  Of  Georgia.  Went  to  England.  After  the 
death  of  Sir  James  Wright,  he  was  joint  agent  with  Graham, 
of  the  Georgia  Loyalists,  for  prosecuting  their  claims  to  com 
pensation  for  losses.  He  was  in  London  in  1788. 

KNOX,  WILLIAM.     In  1782  he  was  Secretary  of  New  York. 

KNUTTING,  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

KNUTTON,  JOHN.  Tallow-chandler,  of  Boston.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  John  Knutton,  a  Loyalist,  died 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1827,  aged  eighty-five ;  and 
his  widow  Margaret  at  the  same  place,  in  1829,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two.  They  settled  there  in  1783,  and  he  was  a 
grantee  of  the  city. 

KNUTTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  in  1774.  In 
1783  he  was  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  received  a 
grant  of  land  in  that  city. 

KOLLOCK,  SIMON.  He  entered  the  king's  service,  and  in  1782 
was  a  captain  in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment.  He  settled 
in  Nova  Scotia.  His  wife,  Ann  Catharine,  died  in  1845,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety-seven.  Simon  Kollock,  Junior,  of 
Sussex  County,  Delaware,  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of 
1778;  perhaps  the  same. 

LACY,  STEPHEN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

LAENSBERRY,  LIEUTENANT  W.  Of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  He  was  one  of  the  Protesters  at  White  Plains,  April, 
1775,  against  Whig  Congresses  and  Committees. 

LAFFEN,  MICHAEL.  A  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's  Third  Bat 
talion. 

LAFFERTY,  BRYAN.  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions, 
Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New  York.  In  1775  he 
signed  a  loyal  Declaration  and  expressed  his  abhorrence  of  the 
conduct  of  the  Whigs. 

LAMB,  WALTER.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  December,  1775, 
he  was  brought  before  the  Council  by  a  zealous  Whig,  who 
prayed  that  he  might  receive  condign  punishment.  But  the 
35*  ' 


414  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

judgment  of  the  Council  was,  that  the  Whig  should  keep 
Lamb,  and  produce  him  for  trial  before  the  Committee  of 
Safety  for  the  District  of  Halifax. 

LAMBDEN,  THOMAS.  Of  Worcester  County,  Maryland.  The 
Committee  of  that  County  published  him  as  an  enemy  to  his 
country,  June,  1775.  It  appears  that  he  was  Crier  of  the 
Court.  The  proof  against  him  was,  that  he  had  declared, 
"all  those  who  took  up  arms,  or  exercised  agreeably  to  the 
Resolves  of  the  Provincial  Convention  at  Annapolis,  were 
rebels,"  and  that,  in  conversation  relative  to  a  quantity  of  salt 
which  the  Committee  at  Baltimore  had  thrown  into  the  water, 

he  had  said,  "  the  Committee  were  a  parcel  of  d d  rascals, 

and  would  not  be  easy  until  some  of  them  were  hanged  up.7' 

LAMBERSON,  or  LAMBERTSON.  Of  the  Lambersons  of  Jamaica, 
New  York,  John  and  his  son  John,  Teunis,  Waters,  Cornelius, 
Matthias,  and  Nicholas  junior,  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty 
in  1775.  In  October,  1775,  Waters,  David,  Simon,  and  John, 
all  of  Queen's  County,  signed  an  acknowledgment  of  allegiance 
addressed  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William  Howe.  John 
Lamberson  was  appointed  a  trustee,  in  1777,  to  provide  neces 
saries  for  the  use  of  the  hospital  and  guard  house  at  Jamaica, 
New  York. 

LAMBERT,  GEORGE.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Yolunteers. 

LAMBERT,  PETER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LAMBTON,  RICHARD.  Deputy  auditor  general,  of  South  Caro 
lina.  His  estate  was  confiscated. 

LANCASTER,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779.  He  went  to  England,  and  was  in  London 
in  July  of  that  year. 

LANCE,  LAMBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

LANE,  EPHRAIM.  Of  Fairfield,  Connecticut.  He  arrived  at 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of 
1783. 

LARGIN,  MICHAEL.  Was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  Brit 
ish  Legion,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  415 

• 

LASKY,  ROBERT,  Senior.  Died  in  King's  Comity,  New 
Brunswick,  1803,  aged  sixty-eight. 

LATHAM,  JOSEPH  and  SAMUEL  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

LATTEU,  GARRET.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a 
Declaration  in  1775. 

LATUFF,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LAUCKS,  ADAM.  A  magistrate  of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery, 
County,  New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyal 
attachment  to  the  crown,  and  expressed  his  abhorrence  of 
Whig  proceedings. 

LAUGHTON,  HENRY.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

LAWE,  ROBERT.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Rangers,  Carolina. 

LAWLER,  WILLIAM  DIGBY.  In  1782  he  was  adjutant  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers. 

LAWLESS,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Went  to  England.  In 
1771)  he  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king. 

LAWRENCE,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  went  to  Upper  Can 
ada,  and  died  there  about  the  year  1820. 

LAWRENCE.  The  following,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York, 
signed  a  Representation  and  Petition  to  Lord  Richard  and 
General  William  Howe,  acknowledging  allegiance,  October, 
1776,  namely :  —  Abraham,  Leonard,  John,  Silas,  William 
junior,  Caleb,  Stephen,  Somerset,  Robert,  Jordan,  Joseph, 
Stephen  junior,  Daniel,  Isaac,  Thomas,  Clarke,  Joseph,  Ja 
cobus,  Obadiah,  Abraham.  In  April,  1779,  Joseph  and 
Thomas  Lawrence  were  Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Sterling,  of  the  Forty-Second  Regiment.  A  Colonel  Law 
rence  commanded  a  corps  of  Loyalists ;  and  in  1777  was  sur 
prised  at  his  own  house,  on  Staten  Island,  and  with  several 
officers,  and  about  eighty  privates,  captured,  and  carried  to 
New  Jersey.  At  this  time  he  had  just  completed  embodying 


416  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

• 

a  force.  There  was  also  a  Captain  Lawrence  of  New  York, 
who  commanded  a  party  of  marauders.  Richard  Lawrence, 
who  was  bom  on  Staten  Island,  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in 
1783,  and  died  at  St.  John,  1846,  after  a  long  and  severe  ill 
ness,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

LAWSON,  LAWRENCE.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

LAWTON,  ISAAC.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He  died 
there,  1810,  aged  eighty. 

LAWTON,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  Settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1846,  aged  eighty-nine, 
leaving  a  large  circle  of  relatives  and  friends. 

LAWTON,  THOMAS.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Was  a  grantee  of  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  and  died  there  in  1803. 

LAWTON,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

LAYNE,  JOHN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of  the 
Association. 

LAYTON,  JAMES.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

LAYTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LAZARUS,  SAMUEL.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army,  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

LEAKE,  ROBERT.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was  confis 
cated. 

LEAVENS,  JOSEPH.  He  was  an  early  settler  of  Canada,  an 
emigrant  from  New  York,  and,  as  I  suppose,  a  Loyalist.  He 
was  long  a  preacher  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  was  highly 
beloved.  He  died  at  Hallowell,  Canada  West,  May,  1844, 
aged  ninety-two. 

LECHMERE,  RICHARD.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774 ;  was  appointed  Mandamus  Councillor,  but  did 
not  qualify ;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778,  and  in 
cluded  in  the  conspiracy  act  of  1779.  He  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776,  and  thence  to  England. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  417 

LEDDLE,  HENRY.  Book-keeper,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

LEE,  JOSEPH.  Of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  Judge  of 
Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Middlesex,  and  Mandamus 
Councillor ;  died  at  Cambridge.  December,  1802,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-three  years.  Though  a  Loyalist,  he  was  not  warm  in 
his  political  sentiments,  and  escaped  particular  notice  from  the 
Sons  of  Liberty.  Of  the  thirty-six  gentlemen  appointed  to  the 
Council,  by  mandamus,  only  ten  were  sworn  in;  of  whom 
Mr.  Lee  was  one ;  but  he  found  it  prudent  to  resign  the  office. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University,  and  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1729. 

LEE,  JOSEPH  and  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts. 
Were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson  in  1774.  Henry,  of  Boston, 
was  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

LEE,  ENOS,  JOHN,  WILLIAM,  NATHANIEL,  and  SILAS.  Of  Fair- 
field  County,  Connecticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading 
Association. 

LEE,  JOSEPH  and  GEORGE.  Of  New  Jersey.  Joseph  was  a 
captain,  and  George  an  ensign,  in  the  Second  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

LEE,  NEHEMIAH.  Residence  unknown.  Died  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1804.  Joseph  Lee,  a  Loyalist,  and  pro 
bably  from  New  Jersey,  was  a  magistrate,  County  of  York, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1792. 

LEE,  RICHARD.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England.  He  was 
in  London,  July,  1779. 

LEE,  SAMUEL.  He  entered  the  military  service,  and  was  an 
officer.  After  the  Revolution  he  retired  to  New  Brunswick, 
received  half-pay,  and  filled  several  public  stations.  He  died 
at  or  near  Fredericton.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died  at  Roxbury, 
Massachusetts,  in  1831. 

LEESH,  GEORGE.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the  Whigs 
in  1774. 

LEFFERTS,  JOSEPH  and  ISAAC.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 


418  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

LEGGE,  BENJAMIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  an  office  un 
der  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston.  He  was  banished, 
and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 

LEGGE,  EDWARD,  Junior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  Was  banished,  and 
lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 

LEGGE,  EDWARD,  Senior.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  fined 
twelve  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  his  property  in  1782. 

LEGGETT,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

LEGGETT,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  1779  his  property 
was  confiscated.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  North  Car 
olina  Volunteers. 

LEIGH,  SIR  EGERTON,  Baronet.  Of  South  Carolina.  He 
was  Attorney-general,  Surveyor-general,  and  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  that  Colony.  Before  the  Revolution,  he  was 
created  a  baronet.  His  father  was  a  Chief  Justice  of  South 
Carolina.  His  second  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Henry  Lau- 
rens,  a  distinguished  Whig,  who  was  President  of  Congress, 
commissioner  to  Holland,  and  a  commissioner  with  Franklin, 
Adams,  and  Jay,  for  negotiating  a  peace  at  Paris. 

LENTHWAIT,  WILLIAM.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1783. 

LEONARD,  DANIEL.  Of  Taunton,  Massachusetts.  Gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1760,  and  died  in  London,  June, 
1829,  aged  eighty-nine  years.  He  was  bred  to  the  law.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  General  Court,  and  a  political  writer 
of  merit.  In  1774  he  was  one  of  the  barristers  and  attornies 
who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson,  and  the  same  year  was 
appointed  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  but  was  not  sworn  into 
office.  Bullets  were  fired  into  his  house  by  a  mob,  and  he 
took  refuge  in  Boston.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  British 
army  to  Halifax.  He  was  included  in  the  banishment  act  of 
1778,  and  in  the  conspiracy  act  of  ]  779.  After  leaving  America, 
he  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Bermudas.  A  series  of  papers 
signed  "  Massachusettensis,"  which  John  Adams,  as  "  Novan- 
glus,"  answered,  were  for  a  long  time  attributed  to  Jonathan 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  419 

Sewall.  but  it  is  now  well  ascertained  that  they  were  written 
by  Mr.  Leonard.  "  Massachusettensis"  bear  dates  between 
December,  1774,  and  April,  1775 ;  "  Novanglus,"  between 
January  and  April,  1775.  Both  were  reprinted  in  1819,  with, 
a  preface  by  Mr.  Adams,  and  some  other  letters. 

LEONARD,  GEORGE.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  settled  in  New 
Brunswick  in  1783,  and  was  much  employed  in  public  affairs. 
The  year  of  his  arrival,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  agents  of 
government  to  locate  lands  granted  to  Loyalists,  and  was  soon 
after  made  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  com 
missioned  as  a  colonel  in  the  militia.  He  died  at  Sussex  Vale 
in  1826,  at  an  old  age.  Sarah,  his  consort,  preceded  him  a 
year,  aged  eighty-one.  His  daughter  Caroline  married  R. 
M.  Jarvis,  Esquire,  in  1805 ;  and  his  daughter  Maria  married 
Lieutenant  Gustavus  R.  H.  M.  Rochfort,  of  the  Royal  Navy, 
in  1814.  His  son,  Colonel  Richard  Leonard,  of  the  104th 
Regiment  of  the  British  Army,  and  sheriff  of  the  District  of 
Niagara,  died  at  Lundly's  Lane,  Upper  Canada,  in  1833. 

LEONARD,  GEORGE,  Junior.  Son  of  George  Leonard.  He 
was  a  grantee  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
removed  there  with  his  father  in  1783.  He  was  bred  to  the 
law,  and  devoted  himself  to  his  profession.  He  died  at  Sus 
sex  Vale  in  1818. 

LEONARD,  GEORGE.  A  miller,  of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to 
Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

LEONARD,  GEORGE.  Of  New  York.  He  entered  the  royal 
army,  and  was  a  sergeant.  He  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick 
at  the  peace,  and  died  at  Deer  Island  in  that  Colony  in  1829, 
aged  seventy-two.  His  descendants  are  numerous. 

LEONARD,  JEREMIAH.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  a  member  of 
the  General  Court  in  1773,  and  was  one  of  the  four  who  voted 
against  the  resolves  of  Mr.  Adams,  which  declared  that  an 
union  of  the  Colonies  was  necessary  to  resist  the  systematic 
attempts  of  the  ministry  to  invade  their  rights  and  liberties. 

LEONARD,  SAMUEL.  Was  a  captain  in  the  First  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers ;  and  John  Leonard  was  an  ensign  in 
the  Second  Battalion  of  the  same  corps. 


420 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


LEONARD,  THOMAS.  Of  Freehold,  Monmouth  County,  New- 
Jersey.  In  April,  1775,  the  Whig  Committee  of  Inspection 
averred,  that  "  every  friend  to  true  freedom  ought  immediately 
to  break  off  all  connexion  and  dealings  with  him,  and  treat  him 
as  a  foe  to  the  rights  of  America."  He  settled  in  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city. 

LESSENCE,  ISAAC.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LEVERICH.  In  1776,  John  and  W.  professed  loyalty  and 
allegiance.  In  1779,  John  and  Samuel  were  Addressers  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling.  All  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York. 

LEWIS,  CAPTAIN .  He  commanded  a  band  of  Loyalists. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  war,  he  and  Colonel  Peter  Horry,  of 
Marion's  corps,  met  in  deadly  conflict.  Lewis  was  armed 
with  a  musket,  while  the  Whig  officer's  only  weapon  was  a 
small  sword.  When  in  the  act  of  firing  at  Horry,  Lewis  was 
shot  from  the  woods  by  a  boy  of  the  name  of  Gwin,  and  fell 
dead  from  his  horse. 

LEWIS,  CURTIS.  Of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  His 
estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

LEWIS,  JOHN.  An  officer  of  the  Customs,  at  Boston.  Em 
barked  with  the  royal  army  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

LEWIS,  THOMAS.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

LEWIS,  WAITSTILL.  Residence  unknown.  Died  at  Yarmouth, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1838,  aged  eighty-three. 

LEWIS,  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  grantee  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

LEYDICK,  GODFREY.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  In 
1792  he  was  sergeant  at  arms  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

LEYDICKER,  SAMUEL.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1783. 

LIBER,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LIGHTFOOT,  RICHARD.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1783.  He  became  a  merchant. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  421 

LIGHTLY,  WILLIAM.  Probably  an  inhabitant  of  Connecticut. 
In  1775  he  was  employed  by  Joshua  Winslow,  Esquire,  a  dis 
tinguished  Loyalist  of  Boston,  to  proceed  in  the  Brigantine 
Nancy  from  Stonington  to  New  York,  —  and  thence,  as  was 
supposed,  to  Boston,  —  with  a  cargo  of  molasses.  The  Pro 
vincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  addressed  Governor  Trtim- 
bull  of  Connecticut  on  the  subject,  and  suggested  the  propriety 
of  detaining  both  vessel  and  merchandise,  "  rather  than  to 
suifer  them  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  General  Gage,  when  they 
would  be  improved  to  the  support  of  our  enemies."  At  this 
time  (July  12,  1775)  Lightly  had  been  seized,  was  then  in 
custody,  and  ordered  to  be  committed  to  jail  at  Concord,  Mas 
sachusetts.  From  a  letter  of  Governor  Trumbull  to  Washing 
ton,  at  a  subsequent  period,  it  appears  that  the  vessel  and 
molasses  were  removed  to  Norwich,  and  placed  in  the  care  of 
the  Committee  of  Inspection  and  Correspondence.  This  inci 
dent,  besides  introducing  the  name  of  Lightly,  will  serve  to 
show  the  manner  of  disposing  of  the  property  of  Loyalists. 

LIGHTON,  JOHN.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1822, 
aged  seventy. 

LILLIE,  THEOPHILUS.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  He  was  one  of 
those  denounced  as  Importers,  contrary  to  the  non-importation 
agreement,  made  by  two  hundred  and  eleven  merchants  and 
traders  in  1768,  and  renewed  by  the  principal  part  of  that 
number  in  1 770.  On  the  22d  of  February,  of  the  last  named 
year,  some  persons  erected  near  his  store  a  large  wooden  head, 
fixed  on  a  pole,  on  which  the  faces  of  several  Importers  were 
carved.  One  Richardson,  who  was  regarded  as  an  Informer, 
endeavored  to  persuade  some  countrymen  with  teams  to  run 
the  post  down,  but  they,  understanding  the  nature  of  the 
pageantry,  declined.  Richardson  foolishly  attempted  to  pos 
sess  himself  of  the  teams,  when  a  crowd  of  boys  pelted  him, 
and  drove  him  into  his  house.  A  multitude  gathered,  noise, 
angry  words,  and  the  throwing  of  stones  followed ;  and  Rich 
ardson,  finally,  discharged  one  musket  from  his  door,  and 
another  from  his  window.  Christopher  Snider,  a  boy  of  eleven, 
received  a  mortal  wound  in  his  breast,  and  was  the  first  mar- 
36 


422 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


tyr  of  liberty.  He  was  buried  on  the  26th ;  four  or  five  hun 
dred  schoolboys,  in  couples,  preceding  his  remains ;  six  of  his 
playfellows  supporting  his  pall;  his  relatives,  about  thirteen 
hundred  of  the  inhabitants,  and  thirty  chariots  and  chaises, 
following  in  procession.  From  this  imposing  funeral  until 
March  5th,  Boston  was  in  a  state  of  commotion,  and  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  occurred  the  affray  between  the  people 
and  the  soldiers,  which  is  known  as  the  Boston  Massacre. 
Liilie  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774 ;  and  went  to 
Halifax  in  1776,  at  the  evacuation. 

LINDALL,  HENRY.   Of  Boston.    An  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 

LINDER,  JOHN,  Senior.  Of  South  Carolina.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

LINDER,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  commission 
under  the  crown,  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

LINDSEY,  CHARLES  STEWART.  In  1782  he  was  captain  of  in 
fantry  in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

LINDSEY,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  also  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

LINKLETTER,  ALEXANDER.  Embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

LINN,  JOHN.  He  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  but  emigrated 
to  New  Jersey  about  sixty  years  prior  to  his  death,  and  died 
at  Belvedere  in  that  State,  June  28,  1841,  aged  one  hundred 
and  eight  years.  He  remembered  the  boyhood  of  Washing 
ton  ;  but  in  consequence  of  his  political  attachments,  was  not 
fond  of  speaking  of  the  events  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a 
carpenter,  and,  when  a  young  man,  assisted  in  building  a  log 
Court  House  near  the  site  of  the  city  of  Washington. 

LINT,  or  LENT,  JACOBUS,  ABRAHAM,  and  DANIEL.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 
The  names  of  Jacob  and  Abraham  Lent  appear  on  an  Address 
to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment, 
April,  1779. 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  423 

LIPPINCOTT,  RICHARD.  A  captain  in  the  service  of  the  crown. 
He  murdered  the  Whig  captain  Joshua  Huddy,  and  obtained 
an  infamous  and  general  notoriety  for  the  deed,  both  in  Amer 
ica  and  Europe.  In  March,  1782,  the  Whigs  had  made  a 
Tory  prisoner,  of  the  name  of  Philip  White,  and  while  con 
veying  him  to  camp,  he  attempted  to  escape ;  though  warned 
to  stop,  he  continued  to  run,  until  he  was  cut  down.  Soon 
after,  Lippincott  was  sent  by  the  Board  of  Loyalists  at  New 
York  to  Middleton-point,  or  Sandy  Hook,  with  Huddy  and 
two  other  prisoners,  where  he  was  directed  to  exchange  them. 
Orrhis  return,  he  reported  that  he  had  exchanged  the  two  as 
he  was  ordered,  and  that  "  Huddy  had  been  exchanged  for 
Philip  White;  "  when  in  fact  he  had  hung  Huddy  in  retalia 
tion,  and  of  his  own  authority,  on  a  tree  on  the  Jersey  shore. 
Washington  immediately  demanded  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  that 
Lippincott  should  be  surrendered,  but  the  Board  of  Loyalists 
interposed,  and  the  demand  was  refused.  Washington  then 
determined  to  retaliate  on  a  prisoner  in  his  possession,  and  se 
lected  by  lot,  captain  Asgill,  of  the  guards,  the  heir  and  hope 
of  an  ancient  family  of  England,  and  fixed  the  time  for  his 
execution.  Asgill's  mother,  on  learning  the  condition  of  her 
son,  implored  Vergennes,  the  French  minister,  to  interfere  to 
save  him.  Her  pathetic  appeal  was  published,  and  excited 
sympathy  throughout  England  and  France.  The  unfortunate 
youth  was  finally  released  by  order  of  Congress,  and  lived  to 
become  Sir  Charles  Asgill,  and  a  general  in  the  British  army ; 
he  died  in  1823,  aged  seventy.  The  fate  of  Lippincott  is  un 
known  ;  but  after  Washington  had  failed  in  his  application  to 
Clinton,  Captain  Hyler,  a  famed  partisan  leader  in  nautical 
adventures,  projected  an  enterprise  to  capture  him.  On  inquiry, 
Hyler  ascertained  that  Lippincott  resided  in  a  well-known 
house  in  Broad  Street,  New  York,  and  in  disguise,  proceeded 
to  the  city  in  the  night,  and  leaving  his  boat  at  Whitehall  in 
charge  of  his  men,  went  directly  to  the  miscreant's  abode,  but 
he  was  absent,  "and  gone  to  a  cock-pit."  Hyler,  not  to  be 
foiled  entirely,  went  on  board  of  a  sloop  at  anchor  off  the  Bat 
tery,  cut  her  cables,  hoisted  her  sails,  and  by  day-light,  had 


424  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

carried  her  to  Elizabethtown,  and  landed  her  cargo,  which 
consisted  of  forty  hogsheads  of  rum. 

LISTER,  BENJAMIN.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lan- 
cey's  Second  Battalion.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  in  1784  a  lot  was  granted  to  him  in  the 
city  of  St.  John.  In  the  winter  of  1803,  while  travelling  in 
a  sleigh  on  the  ice,  he  broke  through  and  was  drowned.  He 
received  half-pay. 

LISTER,  THOMAS.  He  entered  the  military  service  of  the 
crown,  and  in  1782  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's  Third  Bat* 
talion.  At  the  peace  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
a  major  in  the  militia.  After  a  residence  of  some  years  in 
that  Colony,  he  returned  to  the  United  States.  He  received 
half-pay. 

LITHGOW,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LITTLE,  JAMES.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
ordered,  that  failing  to  appear  and  be  tried  for  treason,  he 
should  stand  attainted. 

LITTLE,  STEPHEN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  by  act  of  1778. 

LITTLE,  .  Of  Massachusetts,  and  probably  of  Pitts- 
field.  In  1775  his  conduct  drew  upon  him  the  indignation  of 
the  Whigs,  and  when  a  hue  and  cry  was  raised  against  him, 
he  fled  to  New  York  for  safety. 

LIVERMORE,  JONATHAN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  born 
in  Northborough,  Massachusetts,  in  1739,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1760.  In  1763  he  was  ordained  at 
Wilton.  In  1777  he  was  dismissed  from  his  people,  in  conse 
quence  of  political  differences.  He  died  at  Wilton  in  1809,  in 
his  eightieth  year. 

LIVINGSTON,  HENRY.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry 
in  the  South  Carolina  Royalists. 

LIVINGSTON.  Of  New  York.  In  the  divisions  of  families,  some 
of  this  name  adhered  to  the  crown.  John,  junior,  was  seized 
by  the  Whig  Committee  of  Jamaica  in  1776,  and  sent  prisoner 
to  the  city.  Congress  required  that  he  should  ask  pardon  of 
the  Committee,  which  he  refused,  when  he  was  sent  to  jail. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  425 

LIVINGSTON,  GILBERT.  Was  a  captain  in  Arnold's  American 
Legion. 

LIVINGSTON,  JOHN  W.  Entered  the  service,  and  in  1782  was 
a  captain  in  the  King's  American  Regiment. 

LIVINGSTON,  PHILIP  J.  He  gave  notice  in  1780  to  "  those 
who  have  petitioned  for  houses  and  lands  of  persons  in  rebel 
lion,"  to  call  on  him  at  Hell  Gate,  "  and  receive  answers  to 
their  petitions."  The  object  was,  to  relieve  the  loyal  subjects 
driven  from  their  possessions,  by  dividing  among  them  the 
property  of  the  rebels,  in  small  lots,  and  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  claimants  from  the  destitute  refugee  families.  In 
1783  he  was  a  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah 
Willard. 

LIVIUS,  PETER.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Council  under  the  royal  government ;  was  pro 
scribed  by  the  act  of  1778,  and  died  in  England  in  1795, 
aged,  it  is  supposed,  about  sixty-eight  years.  Of  the  members 
of  the  Council  of  New  Hampshire,  in  1772,  seven  were  rela 
tives  of  the  Governor.  Having  been  left  out  of  commission 
as  a  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  on  the  division  of  the 
province  into  Counties,  when  new  appointments  were  made, 
and  dissenting  from  the  views  of  the  Council  as  to  the  dispo 
sition  of  reserved  lands  in  grants  made  by  a  former  governor, 
Livius  went  to  England,  and  exhibited  to  the  lords  of  trade, 
several  and  serious  charges  against  the  administration  of  which 
he  was  a  member.  These  charges  were  rigidly  investigated, 
but  were  finally  dismissed.  Livius  appears,  however,  to  have 
gained  much  popularity  among  those  in  New  Hampshire  who 
were  opposed  to  the  governor,  and  who  desired  his  removal ; 
and  was  appointed,  by  their  influence,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Province.  But  as  it  was  thought  that  the  appointment,  under 
the  circumstances,  was  likely  to  produce  discord,  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  a  more  lucrative  office  in  the  province  of  Quebec. 
Livius  was  of  foreign  extraction,  and,  as  would  seem,  a  gen 
tleman  of  strong  feelings.  He  wrote  to  General  John  Sullivan 
from  Canada,  to  induce  him  to  abandon  the  Whig  cause. 
The  letter  was  published.  Mr.  Livius  possessed  a  handsome 
36* 


426  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

fortune.  He  was  educated  abroad,  but  received  an  honorary 
degree  from  Harvard  University  in  1767. 

LLOYD,  HENRY.  Of  Boston.  Agent  of  the  contractors  for 
supplying  the  royal  army ;  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 
In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778. 

LLOYD,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  Brother  of  James  Lloyd. 
He  was  born  August  6,  1709.  He  was  attainted,  and  in  the 
act  is  denominated,  "  Henry  Lloyd,  the  elder,  late  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay."  Some  time  after  the  confiscation  of  his  estate, 
his  brother  John  purchased  it  of  the  commissioners  of  forfeit 
ures.  The  Lloyds  were  ancient  and  extensive  land  owners, 
the  manor  of  Queen's  Village;  Long  Island,  having  been  in 
possession  of  the  family  as  early  as  1679. 

LLOYD,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  He  was  born  on  Long  Island 
in  1728 ;  was  educated  in  Connecticut ;  studied  medicine  for 
a  time  in  Boston ;  attended  the  London  hospitals  two  years ; 
and,  returning  to  Boston  in  1752,  obtained  an  extensive  prac 
tice.  A  moderate  Loyalist,  he  remained  in  that  town  while 
occupied  by  the  British  troops,  zealously  devoted  to  his  profes 
sion.  In  1789  he  went  to  England  in  order  to  obtain  compen 
sation  for  losses  incurred  in  the  Revolution,  but  would  not 
consent  to  become  a  British  subject,  nor  express  an  intention 
to  become  such,  and  was  unsuccessful.  He  was  an  Episcopa 
lian,  and  worshipped  at  Trinity  Church.  Of  a  noble  mind, 
he  dispensed  charity  with  a  liberal  hand,  and  professionally, 
was  extremely  kind  to  those  who  were  unable  to  pay  for  his 
services.  He  died  in  1810,  aged  eighty- two.  He  was  an 
Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775,  but  seems  not  to  have  been  mo 
lested.  His  son,  Honorable  James  Lloyd,  was  Senator  to  Con 
gress  from  Massachusetts. 

LLOYD,  SAMUEL.  Clerk  of  the  Customs.  Embarked  at  Bos 
ton  with  the  British  army  in  1776,  for  Halifax. 

LOCKLIN,  MARTIN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  In  June, 
1775,  he  was  tarred  and  feathered,  and  carted  through  the 
streets  of  that  city.  It  is  believed  that  he  and  Dealey,  who 
was  his  companion  in  this  punishment,  were  the  first  victims 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  427 

to  tar  and  feathers  in  South  Carolina.  The  Secret  Committee 
of  Charleston  was  at  this  time  composed  of  the  most  distin 
guished  Whigs,  and  they  must  —  from  the  circumstances  — 
have  permitted,  if  they  did  not  directly  authorize,  the  outrage. 

LOCOOK,  AARON.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  was  confiscated.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  in  1775,  when  his  sympathies,  very  pro 
bably,  were  with  the  Whigs. 

LODER,  JACOB.  Died  at  Sheffield,  New  Brunswick,  1817, 
aged  seventy-one  years. 

LOFLAND,  DORMAND.  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Sussex,  Del 
aware.  Unless  he  should  surrender  himself  on  or  before  the 
1st  of  August,  1778,  and  abide  a  legal  trial  for  treason,  it  was 
enacted  by  a  law  of  that  year,  that  his  estate  would  be  for 
feited. 

LONGFELLOW,  SAMUEL.  Mariner,  of  Palmouth,  now  Portland, 
Maine.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

LONGWORTH,  ISAAC.  One  of  the  fifty-five  Loyalists  who 
petitioned  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia  in  July,  1783.  See  Abijah 
Willard. 

LOOSEE,  NICHOLAS.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a 
Declaration  in  1775* 

LOOSLEY,  CHARLES.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

LORD,  CHARLES.  He  was  at  Halifax  in  July,  1776,  a  Loy 
alist  Refugee. 

LORING,  JOSHUA.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  proscribed 
and  banished.  He  was  in  the  king's  service  during  some  part 
of  the  war,  and  a  commissary  of  prisoners.  The  writers  of 
the  time  charge  him  with  cruelties  to  the  unfortunate  Whigs, 
of  whom  he  had  the  care,  that  are  beyond  all  example  in  civ 
ilized  countries.  But  it  may  not  be  easy  to  fix  upon  his 
exact  responsibility;  yet  a  humane  man  could  never  have 
been  so  unconditionally  odious.  He  died  in  England  in  1782. 

LORING,  JOSHUA,  Junior.  Merchant,  of  Dorchester,  Massa 
chusetts.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage 


428  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

in  1775.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax,  and  was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778. 

LORRAIN,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He  died 
there  in  1803. 

LOSEE,  SIMON.  Of  Long  Island,  New  York.  He  arrived 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife,  in  the  ship  Union, 
in  1783. 

LOTT.  Signers  of  the  Declaration  at  Jamaica,  New  York, 
in  1775,  were  Abraham,  Stephen,  Johannes,  and  Jacob.  Ste 
phen,  Johannes  H.,  Jacob,  and  Abraham,  of  Queen's  County, 
acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  The  loyalty  of  the 
Lotts  occasioned  them  no  little  trouble.  In  August,  1781, 
some  Whigs,  in  a  whale  boat,  went  to  the  residence  of  Colonel 
Abraham  Lott,  from  New  Jersey,  and  robbed  him  of  about 
six  thousand  pounds,  and  carried  off  two  slaves.  The  same 
or  another,  and  a  similar  lawless  and  inexcusable  act,  is  re 
lated  as  follows.  The  noted  Captain  Hyler  surprised  Colonel 
Lott  in  his  house  at  night,  and  himself  and  two  of  his  negroes 
were  taken  prisoners  to  New  Brunswick.  The  Colonel  had 
been  treasurer  of  New  York,  and  a  contractor  for  supplying 
the  ships  of  war,  and  was  known  to  be  rich ;  and  plunder  was 
the  object  of  his  Whig  captors.  They  found  some  silver  in  a 
cupboard,  and  in  the  course  of  their  search,  two  bags  which 
they  supposed  contained  guineas.  After  their  departure,  and 
while  going  up  the  Raritan,  they  agreed  to  divide  their  booty; 
but  to  their  disappointment  the  bags  were  found  to  contain 
only  half-pennies,  which  belonged  to  the  church  at  Flatlands. 
Determined,  however,  to  make  the  best  of  the  exploit,  Colonel 
Lott  was  compelled  to  ransom  his  slaves,  when  he  was  himself 
released,  and  permitted  to  return  home.  During  the  same 
year,  the  house  of  Captain  Lott,  of  Flatbush,  was  robbed  of 
a  considerable  sum  in  specie,  by  a  party  from  New  Jersey. 

LOUGHBOROUGH,  JOHN.  Of  the  manor  of  Moorland,  Penn 
sylvania.  The  Council  in  1778  ordered,  that  unless  he  surren 
dered  himself  and  submitted  to  be  tried  for  treason,  he  should 
stand  attainted. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  429 

LOVE,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LOVEBURY,  JONATHAN.  Of  New  York.  In  June  of  1783  he 
was  preparing  to  embark  for  Nova  Scotia. 

LOVELACE,  THOMAS.  In  1781  he  was  found  within  the 
American  lines  with  a  British  commission  in  his  possession ; 
and  by  order  of  General  Stark,  who  had  established  his  head 
quarters  at  Saratoga,  was  brought  before  a  court-martial,  tried, 
condemned,  and  executed,  as  a  spy.  He  had  family  connex 
ions  in  the  neighborhood,  who  sought  to  avert  his  fate  by 
addressing  a  remonstrance  to  the  Commander-in-chief,  but 
Washington  refused  to  interfere.  The  country  included  in 
Stark's  command  was,  at  this  time,  overrun  with  spies  and 
traitors.  Of  a  band  of  these  miscreants,  Lovelace  was  the 
commander. 

LOVELL,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1774.  He  retreated  to  Halifax,  and  finally  to 
England,  where  he  was  settled  in  the  ministry,  and  died 
March,  1828,  aged  seventy-three  years.  He  was  the  youngest 
son  of  John  Lovell. 

LOVELL,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1728.  After  some  years  of  service  as  assistant 
of  the  South  grammar,  or  Latin  school,  he  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  it  in  1738.  He  was  the  master  nearly  forty  years,  and 
many  of  the  principal  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  had  been  his 
pupils.  He  accompanied  the  British  army  to  Halifax  at  the 
evacuation,  and  died  at  that  place  in  1778,  aged  about  seventy. 
He  was  a  good  scholar,  a  rigid  disciplinarian,  yet  humorous, 
and  an  agreeable  companion.  His  son  James  was  a  Whig, 
and  it  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  the  father  went  to  Nova 
Scotia  a  Loyalist,  while  the  son  was  a  prisoner  of  his  protec 
tors,  and  both  were  at  Halifax  at  the  same  time.  James, 
after  his  release,  returned  to  Boston,  and  was  elected  a  member 
of  Congress.  He  was  Collector  of  Boston  under  the  confeder 
ation,  and  afterwards  under  the  present  constitution,  naval 
officer  of  Boston  and  Charlestown.  He  died  in  that  office  in 
1814,  aged  seventy-six.  It  is  worthy  of  mention,  that  Master 


430  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Lovell  delivered  the  first  Address  in  the  Cradle  of  Liberty  in 
1743.  The  occasion  was  on  the  death  of  Peter  Faneuil,  Esq., 
the  founder;  and  in  the  course  of  his  funeral  oration,  Mr. 
Lovell  said :  "  May  this  Hall  be  ever  sacred  to  the  interests  of 
Truth,  of  Justice,  of  LOYALTY,  of  Honor,  of  Liberty.  May 
no  private  views,  nor  party  broils,  ever  enter  within  these 
walls."  Thus  was  Faneuil  Hall  dedicated. 

LOWNSBURY,  JOHN.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1783. 

Low,  ISAAC.  Of  New  York.  He  favored  the  popular  cause, 
and  was  indeed  a  prominent  Whig.  He  made  a  judicious 
speech  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  merchants  of  New  York 
in  May,  1774,  and  was  an  active  member  of  the  committee  of 
fifty,  appointed  to  correspond  with  our  sister  Colonies.  In  a 
published  appeal  to  the  people  at  that  period,  Mr.  Low  used 
the  following  spirited  language.  "  Let  us,"  said  he,  "with 
the  brave  Romans,  consider  our  ancestors  and  our  offspring. 
Let  us  follow  the  example  of  the  former,  and  set  an  example 
to  the  latter.  Let  us  not  be  like  the  sluggish  people,  who, 
through  a  love  of  ease,  'bowed  themselves,  and  became  servants 
to  tribute,'  and  whom  the  inspired  prophet,  their  father,  justly 
compared  to  asses.  Had  I  the  voice  which  could  be  heard 
from  Canada  to  Florida,  I  would  address  the  Americans  in  the 
language  of  the  Roman  patriot,''  &c. 

Mr.  Low  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Continental 
Congress,  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body,  and  participated  in 
its  proceedings.  He  signed  the  Association,  October  20,  1774, 
and  later  in  the  session,  the  Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the 
Province  of  Quebec.  He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Provincial  Congress  in  1775,  for  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York,  but  his  name  soon  after  disappears  from  the  revolution 
ary  history.  In  1782,  he  was  President  of  the  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  was  attainted,  and  his  property 
was  confiscated.  He  went  to  England.  In  consequence  of 
his  course  in  the  early  part  of  the  struggle,  his  application  to 
be  compensated  for  his  losses  as  a  Loyalist,  was  not  at  first 
favorably  considered. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  431 

Low,  JACOBUS.  Of  Ulster  County,  New  York.  In  April, 
1775,  he  was  admonished  by  the  Whig  Committee  to  discon 
tinue  the  sale  of  Tea ;  but  he  declared  that  he  had  and  would 
sell  Tea;  whereupon  a  public  meeting  published  him  to  the 
country,  as  an  enemy  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  America. 

Low,  JOHN.  Died  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  June, 
1844,  aged  ninety-two  years.  He  emigrated  to  that  town 
when  it  was  an  unbroken  wilderness. 

LOWE,  CHARLES.  Embarked  at  Boston,  with  the  British 
army,  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

LUDLAM,  DANIEL,  NICHOLAS,  HENRY,  Junior,  HENRY,  JOSEPH, 
THOMAS,  and  WILLIAM,  Senior.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776.  Nicholas 
had  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775.  Ephraim  Lud- 
lam,  of  Queen's  County,  had  also  performed  the  same  act. 

LUDLOW,  CARY.  Of  New  York.  Was  Surrogate  and  Mas 
ter  in  Chancery  in  the  city,  in  1782. 

LUDLOW,  GABRIEL  G.  Of  New  York.  He  entered  the  mili 
tary  service  of  the  crown,  and  in  1782  was  colonel  and  com 
mandant  of  De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion.  He  went  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  peace,  and  filled  various  public  stations.  In 
1792  he  held  the  office  of  Judge  of  Vice- Admiralty,  and  was 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  a  colonel  in  the 
militia.  In  1803  Governor  Carlton  embarked  for  England, 
when  Colonel  Ludlow  was  sworn  in  as  commander-in-chief. 
He  died  in  1S08,  aged  seventy-two.  Ann,  his  widow,  died  at 
Carlton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  Fran 
ces,  his  second  daughter,  died  at  New  York  in  1840,  aged 
seventy-four. 

LUDLOW,  GEORGE  DUNCAN.  Of  New  York.  He  served  an 
apprenticeship  with  an  apothecary,  but  disliking  the  business, 
resolved  to  study  law.  In  consequence  of  sickness,  his  tongue 
was  too  large  and  his  speech  defective,  and  his  friends,  antici 
pating  his  certain  failure  at  the  bar,  opposed  his  design.  But 
he  persisted  and  completed  his  studies.  Those  who  were  in 
terested  in  his  success,  attended  Court  on  the  first  trial  of  his 
powers,  predicting  as  they  went,  that  his  discomfiture  and 


432  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

their  own  mortification  were  certain.  Much  to  their  surprise, 
he  was  fluent,  and  argued  the  case  intrusted  to  him  with 
great  skill  and  judgment.  His  rise  was  rapid ;  and  at  the 
Revolutionary  era,  he  was  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  one  of  the  most  considerable  characters  in  the 
Colony.  In  1779  his  house  at  Hempstead  was  plundered, 
and  it  is  said,  that  the  Judge  himself  escaped  heing  made 
prisoner,  by  getting  upon  the  roof  through  the  scuttle,  and 
hiding  behind  the  chimney.  In  1780  he  was  appointed  Master 
of  the  Rolls,  and  Superintendent  of  Police  on  Long  Island, 
"  with  powers  or  principles  of  Equity,  to  hear  and  determine 
controversies,  till  civil  government  can  take  place."  The 
Whigs  of  New  York  formed  a  constitution  as  early  as  1777, 
organized  a  government,  and  appointed  Judges ;  but  the  party 
who  adhered  to  the  crown,  considered  Judge  Ludlow  to  be  in 
office  until  1782,  and  indeed  until  the  peace,  when  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  country.  His  seat  at  Hyde  Park,  and 
his  other  property,  passed  to  the  State  under  the  confiscation 
act.  He  retired  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  where  he  occu 
pied  the  first  place  in  public  affairs.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
first  Council  formed  in  that  Colony,  and  as  senior  Councillor 
administered  the  government ;  and  he  was  the  first  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  His  place  of  residence  was  at 
Fredericton,  the  capital,  and  he  died  there,  February  12,  1808. 
Frances,  his  widow,  and  daughter  of  Thomas  Duncan,  Es 
quire,  died  at  St.  John  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 
Elizabeth,  his  daughter,  and  wife  of  the  Honorable  John  Rob 
inson,  of  St.  John,  died  in  France  in  1828. 

LUDLOW,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  Marshal  of  the  Court 
of  Admiralty.  He  was  in  office  near  the  close  of  the  war. 

LUGRIN,  PETER.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1814, 
aged  sixty-one. 

LUGRIN,  SIMEON.  At  the  peace  was  one  of  the  grantees  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  taught  a  school  in  that  city. 

LUMSDEN,  GEORGE.  Of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He,  his 
wife,  and  four  children,  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of  1782. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  433 

LUTWYCHE,  EDWARD  GOLDSTONE.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  some  consideration,  and  as  early  as  1767 
commanded  a  regiment  of  militia.  He  fled  to  Boston,  and  in 
1776  accompanied  the  British  army  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he 
was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his  estate  confiscated.  In 
1780,  Matthew  Thornton,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  became  the  purchaser  of  his  farm.  He  was  at  New 
York  in  1783,  and  a  petitioner  for  a  grant  of  lands  in  Nova 
Scotia. 

LYDE,  BYFIELD.  Of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity  in  1723.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in 
1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year,  and 
in  1775  an  Addresser  of  Gage.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the 
royal  army  to  Halifax,  and  died  there  the  same  year. 

LYDE,  EDWARD.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778. 

LYDE,  GEORGE.  Of  Boston.  In  1770  he  was  appointed  Col 
lector  of  the  Port  of  Falmouth,  Maine,  and  continued  there 
until  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  The  custom-house 
at  that  period  was  kept  in  a  dwelling-house  at  the  corner  of 
King  and  Middle  streets,  and  was  burnt  when  Mowatt  set  fire 
to  the  town  in  1775.  Mr.  Lyde  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchin 
son  in  1774,  and  in  1778  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

LYMAN,  DANIEL.  Of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  accepted 
a  military  commission  under  the  crown,  and  in  1782  was  a 
captain  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's  American  Volunteers.  At 
the  peace  he  was  a  major.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  a  magis 
trate.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  in  London  in  1809. 

LYMAN,  PHINEAS.  Of  Connecticut.  A  distinguished  man,  but 
one  of  the  most  unfortunate  in  our  history.  He  was  born  at 
Durham  in  1716,  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1738,  was 
appointed  tutor  in  1739,  and  continued  in  that  oflice  three 
years,  when  he  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the  law, 
and  became  eminent.  In  civil  life  he  was  employed  to  adjust 
a  disputed  boundary  between  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut, 
and  held  the  offices  of  representative  to  the  Assembly,  and 
37 


434  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

member  of  the  Council.  In  1755  he  was  appointed  major 
general  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  Connecticut  forces,  and 
was  in  service  throughout  the  French  war.  In  the  battle  of 
Lake  George,  Sir  William  Johnson  of  New  York,  who  com 
manded,  was  soon  wounded ;  when  Lyman  maintained  the 
conflict  for  five  hours,  and  was  himself  personally  exposed  the 
whole  time.  But  Sir  William  Johnson  obtained  the  rewards 
of  the  splendid  victory,  which  was  achieved  over  the  French 
by  the  Colonial  troops  on  this  occasion.  In  1758  General 
Lyman  served  with  Abercrombie,  and  was  with  the  gallant 
and  estimable  Lord  Howe  when  he  was  killed.  In  1762 
Lyman  was  again  engaged  in  the  important  enterprise  against 
Havana,  and  was  in  command  of  the  Colonial  forces  em 
ployed  in  the  expedition.  His  wisdom,  integrity,  bravery,  and 
military  skill,  won  universal  commendation.  Several  British 
officers  who  had  been  his  associates,  solicited  him  to  visit  Eng 
land  after  the  peace ;  and  having  connected  himself  with  a 
company  composed  principally  of  Colonial  officers  and  soldiers, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  the  war,  and  whose  object  was  to 
obtain  a  grant  of  lands  of  the  British  government  on  the 
Mississippi  and  Yazoo,  he  accordingly  went  to  the  mother 
country  in  1763,  as  agent  of  these  persons,  who  styled  them 
selves  Military  Adventurers.  He  remained  in  England  for 
eleven  years,  in  all  the  misery,  suspense,  and  anxiety,  delay, 
and  false  promises  of  attendance  upon  the  Court,  and  a  victim 
to  the  suffering,  which  ever  awaits  the  endeavors  of  a  sensi 
tive  mind,  employed  in  an  arduous  and  unsuccessful  undertak 
ing.  In  a  word,  he  well  nigh  sunk  into  hopeless  imbecility ; 
and  rather  than  return  to  America  without  accomplishing  his 
purpose,  he  resolved  to  remain  and  die  in  England.  But 
about  the  year  1774  the  grant  was  obtained.  Many  of  the 
original  projectors  were  then  dead,  and  others  had  become  too 
advanced  in  life,  or  so  changed  in  circumstances,  as  to  have 
lost  their  desire  to  emigrate  to  a  wilderness.  But  General 
Lyman,  soon  after  arriving  in  Connecticut  from  his  embassy, 
resolved  upon  carrying  through  an  enterprise  that  had  cost 
him  so  much  time  and  anxiety ;  and  in  1775,  accompanied  by 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  435 

his  oldest  son  and  a  few  settlers,  he  arrived  upon  the  land 
which  he  had  secured  for  himself  and  others  of  the  company. 
His  preparatory  arrangements  were  hardly  made  before  he 
died,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine.  Yet,  the  year  following,  in 
1776,  Mrs.  Lyman,  attended  hy  her  only  brother,  Colonel 
Dwight,  and  her  remaining  children  —  the  second  son  ex- 
cepted  —  commenced  and  accomplished  a  journey  to  the  same 
country.  She,  a  woman,  who  in  endowments  and  education 
was  superior  to  most  of  her  sex,  had  been  broken  down 
during  her  husband's  long  absence,  by  the  distresses  in  which 
the  family  had  become  involved ;  and  died  the  same  year. 
Her  brother  lived  only  until  the  next  summer.  The  survivors 
continued  in  the  country  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Natchez 
for  several  years.  When  it  was  invaded  by  the  Spaniards  in 
1781  and  in  1782,  they  abandoned  it,  and  attempted  to  make 
their  way  to  Savannah.  The  war,  and  their  political  sympa 
thies,  rendered  a  direct  journey  dangerous ;  and  they  accord 
ingly  selected  a  route  which  caused  them  to  travel  upwards  of 
thirteen  hundred  miles,  and  occupied  one  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  days.  They  were  all  mounted  on  horseback,  but  the 
ruggedness  of  the  ground  often  required  them  to  travel  long 
distances  on  foot.  Women  and  children,  and  infants  at  the 
breast,  formed  a  part  of  the  returning  and  suffering  band. 
Some  were  sick,  all  endured  the  most  exhausting  fatigue, 
were  in  constant  dread  of  meeting  with  savages,  and  were 
sometimes  without  sufficient  food  and  water.  After  reaching 
Georgia,  the  party  formed  themselves  into  two  companies. 
One  division  became  the  prisoners  of  the  Whigs ;  the  other, 
after  surmounting  many  difficulties,  reached  Savannah  in 
safety.  The  captives  were  soon  released.  Among  those  who 
arrived  at  Savannah,  were  two  daughters  of  General  Lyman, 
both  of  whom  died  at  that  place.  Such  was  the  calamitous 
issue  of  the  life  of  a  gentleman,  who  enjoyed  before  the  Revo 
lution  a  reputation  possessed  by  few  of  our  countrymen ;  such, 
too,  the  sad  end  of  several  members  of  his  family. 

LYMAN.     The  five  sons  of  General  Phineas  Lyman  adhered 
to  the  crown.     Four  were  alive  at  the  close  of  the  contest ; 


436  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  whom  three  accompanied  their  mother  as  already  related ; 
but  of  them  little  else  is  known.  All  were  born  and  educated 
to  high  hopes.  The  ascertained  fate  of  two,  will  show  how 
prematurely  their  prospects  declined,  and  how  utterly  the  ex 
pectations  of  their  youth  were  blasted.  The  eldest  son  of 
General  Lyman  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  and  received  a 
commission  in  the  British  army,  but  he  resigned,  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  The  distresses  consequent 
upon  the  long  absence  of  his  father,  and  various  other  causes, 
combined  to  ruin  his  health ;  and  when  the  parent  finally 
returned,  he  found  him  in  a  state  of  confirmed  insanity.  In 
the  hope  that  a  change  of  scene  and  climate  would  conduce  to 
his  restoration,  the  afflicted  father  took  him  to  West  Florida. 
But  the  broken-hearted  maniac  died  in  1775,  soon  after  com 
pleting  the  journey.  The  second  son  was  sent  to  England  in 
1774,  by  his  grief- worn  mother,  to  solicit  his  father  to  remain 
no  longer  abroad ;  and  while  there,  received  a  commission  in 
the  British  army.  Soon  after  his  return,  he  was  ordered  to 
join  his  regiment  at  Boston ;  and  repairing  thither,  he  con 
tinued  in  service  until  1782,  when  he  sold  his  commission. 
His  disappointments  and  mental  sufferings  had  rendered  him 
almost  reckless  of  pecuniary  affairs,  and  receiving  a  part  of 
the  purchase  money,  he  gave  credit  for  the  balance,  and  lost  it 
by  neglect ;  and  lending  a  considerable  part  of  what  he  did 
receive,  without  taking  evidence  of  the  loan,  he  returned  to 
Connecticut  nearly  pennyless.  He  was  urged  to  take  a  school, 
and  consented.  But  he  made  no  effort  to  collect  the  payments 
which  became  due  for  his  services,  and  failed  to  provide  him 
self  with  articles  of  necessity,  from  the  scanty  funds  that  came 
into  his  possession.  His  friends,  when  his  clothing  had  be 
come  indecent,  bought  and  carried  him  garments  of  which  he 
stood  in  need ;  but  he  was  too  sad,  too  sorely  stricken,  to  wear 
them;  and  in  a  little  time  "joined  his  friends  in  the  grave." 
Thus  ended  the  career  of  the  fourth  child  of  General  Lyman, 
and  of  a  man  who  was  "brilliant,  gay,  and  ingenious,  beyond 
most  of  mankind."  The  ultimate  fate  of  the  three  who  re 
turned  with  the  survivors  of  the  Military  Adventurers,  as 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  437 

related  in  the  notice  of  the  father,  is  unknown.  One  of  them, 
at  the  evacuation  of  Georgia  by  the  royal  forces,  went  to  New 
York,  and  subsequently  to  Connecticut,  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
posing  of  the  remains  of  his  father's  estate  ;  another  retired  to 
Nova  Scotia ;  and  the  third  went  to  New  Providence.  Of  a 
truth,  this  was  a  doomed  family. 

LYNAH,  JAMES.  A  physician,  of  South  Carolina.  He  was 
in  commission  under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  in 
1780,  and  his  estate  was  confiscated.  In  1809  there  died  at 
Charleston,  Doctor  James  Lynah,  physician  and  director- 
general  of  all  the  military  hospitals  in  South  Carolina. 

LYNCH,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

LYNDE,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Salem.  Chief  Justice  of  Massachu 
setts.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1718.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  He  presided  at 
the  trial  of  Captain  Preston,  who  was  held  to  answer  to  the 
tribunals  for  the  Boston  Massacre,  so  called,  in  1770.  In  1772 
Mr.  Lynde  resigned  his  seat  on  the  bench.  In  1774  he  was 
one  of  the  Salem  Addressers  of  Gage.  He  died  in  1781,  aged 
eighty-one.  His  father  was  the  Honorable  Benjamin  Lynde, 
a  Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts,  who  died  in  1745,  aged 
seventy-nine. 

LYON,  ENOCH.  Of  New  Jersey.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Second  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

LYON,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

LYON,  SYLVANUS.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  in  1775. 

LYON.  Of  Connecticut.  Eleven  persons  of  this  name  were 
members  of  the  Reading  Association.  Lieutenant  Peter,  and 
Lieutenant  Daniel,  Jabez,  Eli,  and  John,  of  Reading ;  Joseph, 
Jonathan,  Thomas,  Jesse,  Ebenezer,  and  Gershom  junior,  of 
Fairfield  Comity.  A  number  of  the  Connecticut  Lyons,  and 
two  of  the  above,  settled  in  New  Brunswick ;  thus,  John,  John 
junior,  Reuben,  and  Joseph,  arrived  at  St.  John  in  the  spring 
of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union ;  and  Hezekiah  arrived  the  same 
37* 


438  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

year,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city.  John  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  five  children.  John,  junior,  died  in  Kingston, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1845,  aged  eighty-three,  and  left  many 
descendants. 

MABEE,  JACOB.  Of  New  York.  Fled  to  the  British  lines, 
thence  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  remained  during 
the  war.  At  the  peace  of  1783,  he  retired  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  thence  to  St.  Stephen  in  the  same  Province, 
at  which  place  he  died  about  the  year  1820,  aged  upwards  of 
eighty  years.  His  property  in  New  York  was  confiscated. 
His  son  Solomon  was  impressed  into  the  British  navy,  and 
served  during  the  contest ;  at  its  close  he  went  to  St.  Stephen, 
but  removed  to  Eastport,  Maine,  in  1795,  and  died  there  in 
1828,  aged  sixty-six  years.  His  son  William  still  survives 
(1844),  and  resides  at  St.  Stephen. 

MABEE,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  Arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of  1783.  Jasper 
died  in  that  city,  very  aged,  in  1822.  Jeremiah  died  at  Kings 
ton,  New  Brunswick,  1824,  aged  eighty-five. 

MACAULEY,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  surgeon's  mate  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers, 

MACBETH,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

MACKAY,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Went  to  England.  In 
1779  he  was  an  Addresser  of  the  king. 

MACKENZIE,  ROBERT.  Of  Virginia.  This  gentleman  was  a 
friend  of  Washington,  and  one  of  the  very  few  of  his  letters 
devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  revolutionary  controversy,  written 
before  the  appeal  to  arms,  was  to  him.  It  was  dated  at  Phila 
delphia,  October  9,  1774;  and  Mr.  Sparks,  in  a  note,  remarks 
of  Mackenzie,  that  "he  had  been  a  captain  of  the  Virginia 
regiment,  commanded  by  Washington  in  the  French  war,  and 
a  friendly  intimacy  seems  always  to  have  subsisted  between 
them.  Mackenzie  had  obtained  a  commission  in  the  regular 
army,  and  was  now  attached  to  the  forty-third  regiment  of 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  439 

foot.  He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  while 
fighting  in  that  regiment."  At  a  later  period,  there  was  a 
Major  Mackenzie  of  the  Royal  Welsh  Fusileers,  of  which  Sir 
William  Howe  was  the  Colonel ;  perhaps  the  same. 

MACKNIGHT,  THOMAS.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Assembly  under  the  royal  government ;  and  so  far 
sided  with  the  Whigs,  as  to  take  a  seat  in  the  Convention  of 
1775,  which  Governor  Martin  denounced.  But  he  refused  to 
sanction  the  proceedings,  and  was  censured  by  his  associates, 
in  a  Resolve  of  great  severity  and  bitterness.  Still  a  member 
of  the  Assembly,  he  was  placed  on  a  committee  with  Hewes, 
Hooper,  and  other  Whigs,  to  frame  an  answer  to  the  Gover 
nor's  speech.  In  1779  his  property  was  confiscated.  He  was 
in  England  in  1784,  a  petitioner  for  relief. 

MA  GEE,  HENRY.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778,  the  Council 
required  him  to  appear  and  take  his  trial  for  treason,  or  stand 
attainted. 

MAINWARING,  EDWARD.  A  captain  in  the  King's  Rangers. 
In  November,  1782,  he  had  retired  to  the  Island  of  St.  John, 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

MALCOLM,  JOHN.  A  custom-house  officer,  at  Portland,  Maine. 
Early  in  1774  he  was  seized  at  Boston,  tarred  and  feathered, 
and  carried  through  the  streets  in  derision.  A  few  days  before 
this  occurrence  he  struck  a  tradesman,  who,  as  he  alleged,  had 
frequently  insulted  him,  when  a  warrant  was  issued  against 
him ;  but  as  the  constable  had  not  been  able  to  find  him,  a 
mob  gathered  about  his  house,  and  broke  his  windows.  Mal 
colm  was  in  the  house,  and  pushing  his  sword  through  a 
broken  window,  wounded  one  of  the  assailants.  The  multitude 
then  made  a  rush,  broke  in,  and  finding  him  in  a  chamber, 
lowered  him  by  a  rope  into  a  cart,  tore  off  his  clothes,  and 
tarring  and  feathering  him,  dragged  him  through  several 
streets  to  the  Liberty  Tree,  and  thence  to  the  gallows  on 
the  Neck,  where  he  was  beaten  and  threatened  with  death. 
Having  been  detained  under  the  gallows  for  an  hour,  he 
was  conveyed  to  the  extreme  north  part  of  the  town,  and 
thence  back  to  his  house.  He  was  kept  stripped  four  hours, 


440  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  was  so  bruised  and  benumbed  by  the  cold,  that  his  life 
was  despaired  of.  His  offences  —  besides  striking  the  person 
above  mentioned — appear  to  have  consisted  in  seizing  a  vessel 
at  Portland  for  want  of  a  register,  and  in  using  great  freedom 
and  rudeness  of  speech  at  Boston,  in  condemning  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  Whigs. 

MALLARD,  THOMAS.  During  the  war  he  was  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  The  following  receipt  has  been  preserved. 

"  New  York,  13  Novbr.  1780.  Rec'd  by  order  of  the  Com 
mander  in  Chief  of  Mr.  Thomas  Mallard  thirty  pounds,  being 
half  a  year's  rent  due  the  1st  inst.  for  No.  522  Hanover  Square, 
for  the  use  express' d  in  said  order. 

JOHN  SMYTH,  Coll'r  of  rents." 

£30:0:0 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  above  is  one,  probably,  of 
many  hundred  receipts  given  by  John  Smyth  for  payment  of 
rents  while  the  royal  army  occupied  New  York.  After  the 
evacuation,  the  question  arose,  whether  the  persons  who  had 
occupied  buildings  under  the  authority  of  the  British  Com 
mander-in-chief,  could  plead  payments  to  Smyth  in  bar  of 
actions  commenced  against  them  by  the  owners.  This  ques 
tion,  before  it  was  finally  disposed  of,  caused  much  excitement 
among  the  people,  in  the  courts,  and  in  the  legislature.  Mr. 
Mallard  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died  at  St. 
John  about  the  year  1803. 

MALLERY,  CALEB.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783. 

MALLERY,  JOHN,  JONATHAN,  Junior,  and  NATHAN,  Junior.  Of 
Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading 
Association. 

MALONY,  MICHAEL.  In  1775  he  was  sent  prisoner  from  Long 
Island,  New  York,  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Shrewsbury. 

MANLOVE,  BOAZ.  Of  Delaware.  In  1778  it  was  enacted, 
that,  unless  he  should  surrender  himself  for  trial  for  treason 
within  a  specified  time,  his  property  would  be  confiscated. 

MANN,  GEORGE.    A  gentleman  of  great  wealth  and  influence, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


441 


who  resided  in  the  interior  of  New  York.  He  was  distinguish 
ed  for  his  attachment  to  the  royal  cause,  and  the  king's  com 
missioners  met  at  his  house  for  the  purpose  of  administering 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  surrounding  inhabitants.  On  one 
occasion,  in  1778,  when  upwards  of  one  hundred  had  thus 
signified  their  loyalty,  and  had  been  paraded  before  Mann's 
door  with  the  red  badge  upon  their  hats,  and  he  had  com 
menced  a  most  stirring  and  loyal  oration,  a  body  of  Whig 
cavalry  dashed  in,  and  spoiled  the  speech,  and  caused  the 
speedy  flight  of  all  present.  Word  was  given  to  pursue  Mann, 
and  bring  him  in  alive  if  possible,  but  to  bring  him  in,  dead  or 
alive.  Mann  sheltered  himself  upon  the  top  of  a  wheat-stack, 
where  he  was  discovered  by  the  son  of  a  Whig,  a  lad  of  six 
teen,  who  made  known  the  order,  that  if  he  did  not  surrender 
he  must  be  shot.  Mann  implored  for  mercy,  but  the  stripling  re 
peated  the  terms.  The  boy's  heart,  however,  failed  him,  for  his 
prisoner  had  lived  a  neighbor  to  his  father,  and  had  been  kind 
to  him.  It  was  night,  and  the  rain  descended  in  torrents,  and 
Mann  contrived  to  escape  to  the  mountains,  where  he  remained 
fifteen  days.  He  subsequently  gave  himself  up,  on  condition 
made  through  friends,  that  he  should  receive  no  personal 
harm,  and  was  taken  to  Albany  and  kept  in  confinement 
to  the  close  of  the  war.  His  estate  was  not  confiscated,  and 
he  was  suffered  to  repossess  himself  of  it,  arid  to  live  and  die 
upon  it. 

MANN,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and 
had  charge  of  a  parish.  He  died  at  Newport,  Nova  Scotia, 
1817,  aged  seventy-three. 

MANNING,  GEORGE.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

MANSFIELD,  ISAAC.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name,  and 
a  Sandemanian,  died  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1835,  aged 
eighty-four. 

MANSFIELD,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  was  a  Loyalist  Refugee  at 
Halifax. 

MANSFIELD,  RICHARD.    An  Episcopal  clergyman,  in  Connecti- 


442  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

cut.  He  commenced  his  ministerial  labors  about  the  year 
1748,  and  continued  them  without  intermission  until  near  the 
close  of  1775,  when  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  people. 
He  had  the  care  of  two  churches,  and  of  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty  families  which  composed  his  flock,  one  hundred  and 
ten  of  them  were  firm  and  steadfast  friends  to  government,  or 
Loyalists.  I  suppose  that  Mr.  Mansfield's  two  churches  were 
those  in  Derby  and  Oxford.  He  fled  to  Hempstead,  New  York. 
In  1775  he  was  fifty- two  years  of  age.  He  left  his  wife  and 
children  in  Connecticut ;  of  the  latter,  one  was  an  infant  just 
weaned,  four  others  were  small,  and  four  were  adults. 

MANROW,  WILLIAM.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member 
of  the  Association.  David  Manrow,  of  that  town,  was  also 
a  member. 

MANSON,  DANIEL.  In  1782  he  was  major  of  the  North  Car 
olina  Volunteers. 

MANSON,  THOMAS.  An  ensign  in  the  North  Carolina  Vol 
unteers. 

MANYCH,  ISAAC.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MARCHINGTON,  PHILIP.  Of  Pennsylvania.  His  estate  was 
confiscated.  He  was  at  New  York,  some  part  of  the  war,  a 
merchant.  He  settled  at  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  at  Halifax  in 
1808,  aged  seventy-two.  His  daughter  Mary  married  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  John  Wellsford,  101st  Regiment,  British  Army, 
and  died  at  Halifax,  1842,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 

MARGISTON,  WILLIAM.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

MARKS,  NEHEMIAH.  He  was  born  at  Derby,  Connecticut. 
Soon  after  the  war  commenced,  he  repaired  to  New  York,  and 
engaged  with  the  British  commander  there  to  act  as  a  despatch 
agent.  At  the  peace  he  retired  to  Nova  Scotia,  but  in  the 
spring  of  1781,  he  settled  at  St.  Stephen,  New  Brunswick, 
where  he  died  July,  1799,  aged  fifty-two  years.  His  wife 
Betsy  died  at  the  same  place  in  1812,  aged  sixty.  Eight  chil 
dren  survived  him.  His  son  Nehemiah,  a  highly  enterprising 
ship-owner  of  St.  Stephen,  is  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Charlotte 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  443 

County  Militia,  and  a  magistrate.  His  daughter  Hannah 
married  General  John  Brewer,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Rob- 
binstori,  Maine. 

MARK,  LAWRENCE.  In  1781  he  was  convicted  as  a  spy,  and 
sentenced  to  death.  After  a  respite  of  a  few  days,  he  was 
executed  at  Philadelphia  in  November  of  that  year. 

MARSHALL,  EMANUEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MARSHALL,  JOHN.     A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

MARSHALL,  JOSEPH.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Rangers,  Carolina. 

MARSHALL,  WILLIAM.  Pilot,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1778  the 
Council  of  Pennsylvania  ordered,  that  he  should  stand  attaint 
ed,  if  he  failed  to  appear  and  be  tried  for  treason. 

MARSTON,  BENJAMIN.  Son  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Marston,  of 
Salem,  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1749,  and  died  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  while  in  the  service  of 
the  African  Company,  in  1793.  He  was  a  merchant  at  Mar- 
blehead,  and  his  name  appears  among  the  Addressers  of  Gov 
ernor  Hutchinson  in  1774.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and 
was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778. 

MARTIN,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  captain  in  the  North 
Carolina  Volunteers. 

MARTIN,  JOSIAH.  He  was  a  major  in  the  British  army,  and, 
on  Governor  Tryon's  being  transferred  to  New  York  in  1771, 
was  appointed  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  was  the  last 
royal  chief  magistrate  of  the  Colony.  His  first  duty  seems  to 
have  been  to  conciliate  the  Regulators,  who  had  been  in  open 
rebellion  and  in  arms,  during  the  administration  of  his  prede 
cessor.  His  efforts  were  successful,  and  a  very  considerable 
proportion,  and  perhaps  a  majority,  of  the  Regulators,  —  sin 
gular  as  is  the  fact,  —  adhered  to  the  crown  in  the  Revolution. 
But  Tryon  had  bequeathed  the  far  more  serious  and  general 
controversy  with  the  Whigs;  and  Martin  soon  became  involved 
in  difficulties.  In  his  last  speech  to  the  Assembly  in  April, 
1775,  he  reviews  the  whole  course  of  affairs  at  length,  and 
with  more  than  common  ability.  The  House  returned  a  spir- 


444  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ited  answer,  and  he  immediately  dissolved  it.  As  Governor 
Martin  had  no  military  force,  his  sole  dependence  now,  to  carry 
on  the  government,  was  on  such  of  the  Council  as  remained 
faithful  to  the  interests  of  the  king.  He  proposed,  or  at  least 
suggested,  the  propriety  of  issuing  writs  for  the  election  of  a 
new  Assembly,  but  his  advisers  recommended  delay.  But  he 
commenced  fortifying  the  palace,  and  the  embodying  of  a  force 
of  Loyalists.  These  hostile  preparations,  and  the  knowledge 
that  he  had  written  to  Gage  at  Boston  for  arms  and  ammunition, 
soon  produced  an  open  rupture.  Some  bold  Whigs  seized  and 
carried  off  the  cannon  which  he  had  planted,  while  he  and 
his  council  were  in  session,  on  the  24th  of  April.  On  that 
day,  the  records  of  the  royal  government  in  North  Carolina 
cease ;  and  in  the  evening,  Governor  Martin  fled  to  Fort  John 
ston,  on  the  Cape  Fear  river.  But  the  Whigs  pursued,  and 
drove  him  from  the  Fort,  to  the  king's  sloop  of  war,  the 
Cruiser,  from  which  ship,  on  the  8th  of  August,  he  issued  a 
proclamation,  and  one  of  the  longest,  probably,  on  record. 
The  battle  of  Moore's  Creek,  in  which  the  Loyalists  under 
McDonald  were  defeated  and  dispersed  by  Colonel  Caswell, 
followed  in  February,  1776  ;  arid  Governor  Martin,  embarking 
on  board  the  fleet  of  Sir  Peter  Parker,  arrived  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  early  in  June  of  that  year.  He  retired,  subse 
quently,  to  New  York,  and  died  at  Rockaway  in  November, 
1778.  His  estate  in  North  Carolina  was  confiscated.  The 
documents  which  relate  to  his  administration,  show  that  he 
was  a  man  of  remarkable  force  and  energy  of  character. 
His  age  at  his  decease  is  stated  at  seventy-nine  years ;  but  this 
must  be  an  error,  as  his  father,  Colonel  Samuel  Martin,  was 
alive  in  1774,  and  wrote  a  spirited  letter  on  public  affairs. 

MARTIN,  JOSIAH.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  1782  was  colonel 
of  the  North  Carolina  Highland  Regiment. 

MARTIN,  LAUGHLIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  tarred  and 
feathered  at  Charleston,  and  was  ordered  to  depart  to  England. 
Subsequently,  on  expressing  his  contrition  for  his  offences, 
he  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  city,  and  to  pursue  his  avo 
cation. 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  445 

MARTIN,  SAMUEL.  Of  Virginia.  Lost  his  estate  under  the 
confiscation  act.  The  British  government,  in  considering  the 
claims  of  the  Loyalists,  fixed  the  value  of  the  fee  simple  of 
his  landed  property  at  £13,115,  and  of  his  life  interest  therein 
at  £6,500,  and  for  the  life  interest  gave  him  a  certificate  of 
compensation.  An  attempt  was  made  to  secure  the  reversion, 
estimated  at  £6,615,  for  his  son,  George  Martin,  but  it  is  be 
lieved  that  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  refused  to  interfere  with 
its  previous  act  of  confiscation,  by  which  the  whole  interest 
was  presumed  to  be  vested  in  the  father. 

MARTIN,  STEPHEN.  A  physician,  of  Far  Rockaway,  New 
York.  Gave  his  parole  of  honor  in  1776,  that  he  would  not 
directly  or  indirectly  oppose  the  Whigs. 

MARTIN,  WILLIAM,  of  Boston,  and  MICHAEL,  of  Brookfield, 
Massachusetts.  Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

MARVIN,  JOHN.  Of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  He  arrived  at 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of 
1783. 

MASON,  SAMUEL.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick.  In  1795  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  of  St.  John.  He  died  in 
that  city,  1827,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

MASSEY,  JAMES.  Hatter,  of  Duck  Creek,  Delaware.  Unless 
he  surrendered  himself  for  trial  on  or  before  August  1,  of  1778, 
his  estate  was  to  become  forfeit. 

MASSINBIRD,  GEORGE.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  December. 
1775,  a  Whig  who  had  caught  him  in  the  course  of  his  offi 
cial  excursions,  carried  him  before  the  Council,  and  prayed  that 
condign  punishment  might  be  inflicted.  But  Massinbird  played 
the  penitent,  and  was  released. 

MASSINGHAM,  ISAAC.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  He 
embarked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  British  army  in  1776. 

MATHER,  SAMUEL.  Clerk  of  the  Customs.  In  1776  he  em 
barked  at  Boston  for  Halifax  with  the  British  army  j  anoT  in 
August  of  that  year  arrived  in  England. 

MATHESON,  ALEXANDER.  Was  quartermaster  of  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

38 


446  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

MATHESON,  CHARLES.  An  officer  in  the  Queen's  Rangers. 
In  1783  he  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

MATHEWS,  DAVID.  Of  New  York.  He  was  mayor  of  the 
city,  and  in  1782,  Register  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty.  He 
had  a  house  in  New  York,  and  another  in  Flatbush,  and  kept 
up  an  establishment  at  both.  His  estate  was  confiscated. 

MATHEWS,  FLETCHER.  Of  New  York.  During  the  war  he 
was  proceeded  against  by  the  commissioners  appointed  to  the 
charge  of  persons  who  adhered  to  the  crown,  and  was  ordered 
to  be  sent  within  the  British  lines.  But  Governor  Clinton 
having  so  far  interfered  with  the  decision  as  to  detain  him  for 
the  purpose  of  exchange,  he  was  suifered  to  remain  in  the 
country  without  interruption. 

MATHEWS,  GEORGE.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1832,  aged  eighty-four. 

MAWDESLEY,  JOHN.  He  was  at  New  York  in  July,  1783, 
and  was  one  of  the  fifty-five  who  petitioned  for  grants  of  lands 
in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

MAXWELL,  ANDREW.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  American  Volunteers. 

McAoAM,  JOHN  LOUDOUN.  The  projector  of  the  improve 
ment  in  the  making  of  roads,  known  as  McAdamized  roads. 
He  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1756,  emigrated  to  New  York 
when  a  lad,  and  remained  in  that  city  throughout  the  Rev 
olution.  Under  the  protection  of  the  British  troops,  he  accu 
mulated  a  considerable  fortune,  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  prizes. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  his  native  land,  with 
the  loss  of  nearly  the  whole  of  his  property.  He  died  poor  in 
1836,  aged  eighty-one.  His  system  of  making  roads  is  too 
well  known  to  require  description.  By  his  first  wife,  a  lady 
of  the  name  of  Nicholl,  whom  he  married  «it  New  York,  he 
had  six  children,  most  of  whom  survived  him.  His  second 
wife,  of  the  (Loyalist)  name  of  De  Lancey,  brought  him  no 
family.  When  he  came  to  America,  he  lived  until  manhood 
with  his  uncle  William,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  who,  as  I 
suppose,  was  the  William  McAdam  of  the  following  notice. 
McAoAM,  WILLIAM.  Merchant,  of  New  York.  His  estate 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  447 

was  confiscated.  Like  many  of  his  associates  of  the  committee 
of  fifty  of  that  city,  "  appointed  to  correspond  with  our  sister 
Colonies,"  he  was,  I  conclude,  from  the  documents  of  the  day, 
disposed  at  the  outset  to  favor  the  popular  cause. 

Me  ALPINE,  ANTHONY.     An  officer  under  Sir  John  Johnson. 

McALPiNE,  DONALD.  A  lieutenant  in  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers. 

MCALPINE,  PETER  and  WALTER.  Were  grantees  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick. 

MCALPINE,  WILLIAM.  Printer  and  bookbinder,  of  Boston. 
An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775; 
was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  remained  in  that 
town  during  the  siege,  but  embarked  with  the  British  army, 
and  went  to  Halifax.  Subsequently,  he  went  to  Great  Britain, 
and  died  at  Glasgow  in  1788.  His  place  of  business,  while 
in  Boston,  was  at  one  time  opposite  to  the  Old  South  Church. 

MCALPINE,  WILLIAM.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Guides  and 
Pioneers. 

MCARTHUR,  NIEL.  Was  a  captain  in  the  North  Carolina 
Regiment. 

McAusLEN,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Newbern,  North  Carolina.  His 
property  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

McCALL,  GEORGE.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  established 
himself  as  a  merchant.  There  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchin 
son  at  Marblehead,  1774,  of  this  name. 

McCALL,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MCCANISH,  JOHN.    An  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Carolina. 

McCANN,  ANDREW.  An  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

MCCARTNEY,  JUSTIN.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's 
Second  Battalion. 

McCLATCHEY,  .  I  suppose  of  Georgia.  In  1793  he 

lived  in  Florida,  and  was  largely  concerned  in  the  Indian 
trade,  under  permission  of  the  Spanish  government  to  import 
goods  directly  from  England. 


448  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

MCCLELLAN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Edgecombe,  North  Carolina.  His 
property  was  confiscated  in  1777. 

MCCLINTOCK,  NATHAN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with 
the  British  army,  for  Halifax. 

McCoLLUM,  FARQUER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MCCOLLUM,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

McCoMB,  .  He  commanded  a  company  in  the  battle  of 

Bennington  in  1777,  and  was  there  killed. 

McCoRMicK,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  Went  to  Eng 
land.  In  July,  1779,  he  was  in  London,  and  presented  an 
Address  to  the  king.  His  property  was  confiscated. 

McCoY,  ALEXANDER.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

McCoy,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

McCowAN,  PATRICK.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

McCREA,  CREIGHTON.     An  officer  in  the  Queen's  Rangers. 

McCREA,  JANE.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
James  McCrea,  of  New  Jersey ;  and  was  beautiful  and  good. 
Her  sad  fate  is  well  known.  Of  Loyalist  parentage,  she  was 
to  have  become  the  bride  of  David  Jones,  another  Loyalist, 
and  a  captain  in  the  British  service.  Her  nephew,  Colonel 
James  McCrea,  lived  at  Saratoga  in  1823. 

McCREA,  ROBERT.  An  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

MCCRIMMEN,  DONALD.  Was  a  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  the 
British  Legion. 

McCuLLocH,  HENRY.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property 
was  confiscated  in  1779. 

McCuLLOH,  ALEXANDER.  A  member  of  the  Council  of  North 
Carolina.  He  advised  Governor  Martin  to  issue  his  Proclama 
tion  against  the  Whig  Convention  appointed  to  meet  at  New- 
bern,  April  3d,  1775,  to  elect  Delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  449 

McCuLLOH,  HENRY  EUSTACE.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Council,  and  for  a  number  of  years  agent  of 
the  Colony.  From  the  latter  office,  he  was  dismissed  by  the 
Assembly  in  1774.  His  integrity  may  well  be  questioned, 
since,  in  his  capacity  of  Councillor,  he  sold  his  vote  in  favor  of 
the  Tuscarora  grant  of  lands  to  Williams,  Pugh,  and  Jones, 
for  one  thousand  acres  of  land.  The  fact  that  he  was  thus 
bribed  seems  to  have  been  notorious.  Mr.  Alexander  Elmsly, 
a  gentleman  who  filled  an  official  station  of  responsibility 
while  in  London  in  1774,  wrote  to  a  friend  in  North  Carolina 
thus  :  "  Mr.  McCulloh  has  often  been  talking  to  me  of  buying 
the  one  thousand  acres  of  land  he  got  for  his  vote  in  Council 
from  Pugh  and  Williams.  I  have  never  listened  to  him,"  &c. 
In  1779  McCulloh's  estate  was  confiscated.  He  went  to 
England.  After  the  war,  he  was  agent  of  the  North  Carolina 
Loyalists  for  prosecuting  their  claims  to  compensation  for  losses. 
He  was  in  London  in  1788. 

MCDONALD,  ALEXANDER.  A  captain  in  the  regiment  of  North 
Carolina  Highlanders.  His  wife  was  the  celebrated  Flora 
McDonald,  who  was  so  true,  so  devoted  to  the  unfortunate 
Prince  Charles  Edward,  the  last  Stuart  who  sought  the  throne 
of  England.  The  story  is  familiar  to  all,  and  I  will  not  repeat 
it.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Flora  and  her  husband  emigrated  to 
North  Carolina,  where,  when  the  Revolution  came  on,  they 
espoused  the  royal  cause,  and  the  husband  accepted  a  com 
mission  and  took  up  arms  against  his  adopted  country,  as  did 
two  of  his  sons.  At  the  close  of  the  war  they,  of  course,  left 
America.  On  their  passage  home,  they  encountered  a  French 
ship  of  war,  and  in  the  action  which  ensued,  the  intrepid 
Flora,  true  to  her  heroic  character,  remained  upon  deck,  and 
endeavored  by  her  voice  and  example  to  encourage  the  sailors. 
In  the  bustle  of  the  fight  she  was  thrown  down  and  broke  her 
arm.  In  relating  the  incident  afterwards,  she  said,  that  she 
"had  now  perilled  her  life  in  behalf  of  both  the  house  of 
Stuart  and  that  of  Brunswick,  and  got  very  little  for  her 
pains."  She  died  in  1790,  and  was  actually  buried  in  a 
shroud  made  from  the  sheet  in  which  Prince  Charles  had  slept, 
38* 


450  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  which  she  had  preserved  for  this  very  purpose  forty-five 
years,  through  her  many  adventures  and  migrations.  Her 
husband  survived  her  a  few  years,  and  died  on  the  half-pay 
list  as  a  British  officer.  Her  son,  Lieutenant  Colonel  John 
McDonald,  was  alive  in  1833,  as  was  also  a  daughter. 

MCDONALD,  CHARLES.  Of  North  Carolina.  Son  of  Alexander 
McDonald.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the 
British  Legion.  I  suppose  that,  previously,  he  had  been  a 
captain  in  the  Queen's  Rangers,  and  had  exchanged  into  this 
corps.  He  went  to  Great  Britain  at  the  peace,  and  died  there 
prior  to  1833.  As  the  late  Lord  McDonald  saw  his  remains 
lowered  into  the  grave,  he  remarked,  "there  lies  the  most 
finished  gentleman  of  my  family  and  name." 

MCDONALD,  DAVID.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

MCDONALD,  DENNIS.  Embarked  at  Boston,  with  the  British 
army,  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

MCDONALD,  DONALD.  Of  New  York.  He  served  the  crown 
under  Sir  John  Johnson  seven  years.  He  died  at  the  Wolfe 
Islands,  near  Kingston,  Upper  Canada,  in  1839,  aged  ninety- 
seven. 

MCDONALD,  DONALD.  Of  Johnstown,  New  York.  In  1781, 
at  the  head  of  a  band  of  Indians  and  Tories,  he  made  an 
attack  upon  the  house  of  John  Christian  Shell,  at  a  place 
called  Shell's  Bush,  near  Herkimer,  New  York.  During  the 
affray  he  attempted  to  force  the  door  with  a  crow-bar,  when 
Shell,  "quick  as  lightning,"  opened  the  door  and  drew  him 
within  his  dwelling  a  prisoner.  McDonald,  to  save  his  life, 
gave  up  his  ammunition  to  be  fired  against  his  own  party  with 
out,  Shell's  being  nearly  exhausted.  The  Loyalists  soon  after 
attempted  to  carry  the  house  by  an  assault,  and  rushing  up  to 
its  walls,  five  of  them  thrust  their  muskets  through  its  loop 
holes  ;  but  Shell's  wife  ruined  every  musket  by  bending  the 
barrels  with  an  axe.  The  assailants  finally  retired,  but  Shell 
and  his  family  repaired  to  Fort  Dayton,  leaving  McDonald, 
who  had  been  wounded  in  the  leg,  alone  in  the  house.  He 
was  removed  the  next  day,  and  suffered  amputation  of  the 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  451 

injured  limb,  but  the  blood  could  not  be  stanched,  and  he 
died  a  few  hours  after  the  operation.  He  wore  a  silver 
mounted  tomahawk,  on  which  Shell,  who  took  it  from  him, 
counted  thirty  scalp  notches  —  showing  the  number  of  persons 
he  had  scalped  —  honorable  trophies,  indeed  ! 

MCDONALD,  DONALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  known 
to  be  warmly  attached  to  the  royal  interests,  and  early  in  the 
struggle,  Governor  Martin  authorized  him  to  raise  and  em 
body  all  of  like  sympathies  in  the  Colony.  Of  the  troops  thus 
enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  McDonald  was  to  be  placed 
in  command  as  captain  general.  His  success  was  very  great. 
The  Whigs,  alarmed  at  the  aspect  of  affairs,  placed  General 
Moore  in  the  field  with  all  the  militia  of  the  popular  party 
that  could  be  assembled  without  delay.  The  opposing  forces 
soon  met.  McDonald  was  defeated  and  made  prisoner.  Many 
other  Loyalists  were  captured,  among  whom  were  his  son 
who  was  a  colonel,  and  Kennett,  and  Daniel  McDonald,  who 
were  also  officers.  This  discomfiture  was  of  much  benefit  to 
the  Whigs,  and  for  a  considerable  time,  subsequently,  the 
friends  of  the  king  in  North  Carolina  were  too  much  dis 
heartened  to  attempt  further  offensive  operations.  The  pre 
cipitation  of  the  Loyalists  was  the  cause  of  their  ruin. 

MCDONALD,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  Son  of  Alexander 
and  Flora  McDonald.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  infantry 
in  the  British  Legion. 

MCDONALD,  JAMES.  An  officer  of  dragoons.  After  the  Revo 
lution  he  was  high-constable  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
and  died  in  that  city  in  1804. 

MCDONALD,  LEWIS.  Of  Bedford,  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  He  was  at  first  a  Whig,  and  a  captain,  and  a  commit 
tee-man,  but  incurring  the  displeasure  of  his  early  political 
associates,  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  home.  In  1779  he 
was  on  Long  Island,  and  was  robbed  by  about  thirty  rebels 
from  Connecticut. 

MCDONALD,  .  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 

New  York.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  service  of  the  crown, 
and  engaged  in  the  border  affrays  with  Butler  and  other  New 


452  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

York  Loyalists.  During  the  battle  of  the  Oriskany  in  1777, 
he  fought  hand  to  hand  with  a  Whig  officer  named  Gardenier, 
who,  though  wounded,  seized  a  barbed  spear  and  thrust  it  into 
his  side.  McDonald  dropped  dead. 

MCDONALD.  There  were  several  Loyalists  of  this  name 
besides  the  above ;  between  some  of  whom  I  am  not  able  to 
discriminate.  Thus  there  were  many  having  the  sirname 
Alexander. 

MCDONALD,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Richmond  County,  New  York. 
Was  examined  in  1775  before  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  by 
a  resolution  of  that  body  was  ordered  to  be  secured  and  kept 
in  custody,  on  the  charge  of  concerting  measures  and  employ 
ing  agents  to  enlist  men  for  the  royal  army.  Alexander,  of 
the  Parish  of  St.  George,  Maryland,  July  5,  1775,  was  de 
nounced  in  the  public  papers  as  a  violator  of  the  Association 
of  the  Continental  Congress. 

MCDONALD,  ALEXANDER.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  second 
major  of  the  Cumberland  County  regiment,  but  was  dismissed 
by  the  Whigs  in  1776,  in  consequence  of  his  adherence  to  the 
crown. 

MCDONALD,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the 
Loyal  Foresters. 

MCDONALD,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
King's  Orange  Rangers. 

McDoNALD,  ALEXANDER.  Was  an  officer  in  a  Loyalist  corps ; 
went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1784,  and  died  in  that  Colony  in 
1835,  aged  seventy-two. 

MCDONALD.  The  same  difficulty  occurs  in  distinguishing 
between  those  of  the  name  of  Angus  McDonald. 

MCDONALD,  ANGUS.  In  1775  he  was  arrested  in  New  York 
and  sent  prisoner  to  Connecticut ;  and  the  6th  of  July  of  that 
year,  complained  in  a  letter  from  Fairfield  Jail,  of  having  been 
placed  in  close  confinement,  and  said,  that  he  expected  "  to  be 
treated  more  like  a  gentleman  than  a  highwayman,"  &c.  His 
wife  arrived  at  his  prison  on  that  day,  and  while  she  remained 
he  prayed  for  more  liberty ;  and  he  averred  his  willingness  to 
suffer  death,  should  he  abuse  such  privileges  as  might  be 
granted  to  him. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  453 

MCDONALD,  ANGUS.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Guides  and  Pioneers. 

MCDONALD,  ANGUS.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  King's 
Rangers,  Carolina. 

MCDONALD,  ANGUS.  An  officer  of  the  Seventy-first  Regiment, 
died  at  Montreal  in  1812.  Angus,  who  served  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  died  at  Cumberland,  New  Brunswick,  in  1842,  aged  one 
hundred  and  six  years. 

MCDONALD.  The  following,  none  of  whom  have  been  men 
tioned  among  the  foregoing,  were  certainly  in  commission  in 
1782. 

MCDONALD,  ARCHIBALD.  Was  surgeon  of  the  Guides  and 
Pioneers. 

MCDONALD,  CHARLES.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Second  Ameri 
can  Regiment. 

MCDONALD,  FORBES.  Was  a  captain  in  the  King's  Orange 
Rangers. 

MCDONALD,  JAMES.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Prince  of  Wales' s 
American  Volunteers. 

MCDONALD,  S.  Was  an  ensign  of  infantry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

MCDONALD,  THOMAS.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers. 

McDoNELL,  ALLAN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  When,  in  1776,  General  Schuyler  was  dispatched 
to  that  County  to  reduce  and  secure  the  Loyalists,  he  and  Sir 
John  Johnson  entered  into  a  joint  negotiation  for  terms,  and 
his  name  appears  with  that  of  the  Baronet,  in  the  communi 
cations  to  the  General.  Sir  John  had  previously  sent  him  on 
a  secret  embassy  to  Governor  Tryon ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  severe  treatment  which  the  Baronet  received  at  the  hands 
of  the  Whigs,  was  owing  to  the  knowledge  which  reached 
Congress,  through  some  of  their  agents,  of  this  mission  to 
Tryon. 

McDoNouGH,  THOMAS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished,  and  his  estate  also  was  confiscated.  He 
was  secretary  of  Governor  Wentworth ;  and  left  Portsmouth 
in  1776. 


454  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

McDouGALL,  ARCHIBALD.  An  ensign  in  the  North  Carolina 
Volunteers. 

McDowALL,  ALEXANDER.  A  Whig  officer,  and  adjutant  of 
Colonel  Welles' s  regiment  of  the  State  troops  of  Connecticut. 
In  1781  he  was  found  guilty  of  desertion  to  the  royal  cause, 
and  ordered  to  be  executed. 

MCEACHRAN, .     In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  North 

Carolina  Highland  Regiment. 

MCELLERY,  WILLIAM.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783. 

McEwEN,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774.  Among  the  magistrates  who  addressed  Sir  Charles 
Douglas  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  1784,  was  one  of  this 
name. 

MCFARLAND,  WILLIAM.  A  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's  Third 
Battalion. 

McGiLL,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  of  infantry  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  went  to  New 
Brunswick.  He  removed  to  Upper  Canada,  and  became  a 
person  of  note.  He  died  at  Toronto  in  1834,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three.  At  the  time  of  his  decease,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  legislative  council  of  the  Colony. 

McGiLCHRisT,  WILLIAM.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  He  commenced  his  labors  in  Salem  in  1747, 
and  continued  in  that  town  until  his  death  in  1780,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-three.  Before  he  came  to  Salem,  I  suppose,  he  was 
a  minister  in  South  Carolina.  Few  memorials  remain  of  him; 
but  the  meagre  accounts  that  exist,  give  him  an  excellent 
character.  I  conclude,  that,  though  he  remained  with  his 
people,  the  troubles  of  the  times  interfered  with  the  regular 
discharge  of  his  duties.  He  suffered  a  considerable  loss  of 
property,  and  was  exposed  to  many  trials;  and  he  said,  that 
he  "  could  not  freely  nor  safely  walk  the  streets  by  reason  of 
party  rage  and  malevolence,  and  the  uncontrolled  rancor  of 
some  men."  He  bequeathed  the  arrears  of  three  years'  salary 
due  to  him,  and  his  share  of  a  sum  that  had  been  given  to 
such  Episcopal  missionaries  as  were  sufferers  by  the  Revolu- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  455 

tion,  to  the  Society  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  foreign 
parts. 

McGiLLis,  DONALD.  He  resided  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution,  on  the  Mohawk  river,  New  York.  Embracing 
the  royal  side  in  the  contest,  he  formed  one  of  "  a  determined 
band  of  young  men,"  who  attacked  a  Whig  post,  and  in  the 
face  of  a  superior  force  cut  down  the  flag-staff,  and  tore  in 
strips  the  stars  and  stripes  attached  to  it.  Subsequently,  he 
joined  a  grenadier  company  called  the  Royal  Yorkers,  and 
performed  efficient  service  throughout  the  war.  He  settled 
in  Canada  at  the  peace,  and  entering  the  British  service 
again  in  1812,  was  commissioned  as  a  captain  in  the  Colonial 
corps  by  Sir  Isaac  Brock.  He  died  at  River  Raisin,  Canada, 
in  1844,  aged  eighty  years. 

McGiLLiVRAY,  LACHLAN.  Of  Georgia.  His  property  was 
confiscated  by  that  State,  and  he  settled  among  the  Creeks, 
where  he  became  a  principal  agent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  ex 
ercised  a  hostile  spirit  towards  Georgia.  In  1789,  his  son 
Alexander,  by  "a  principal  woman  of  the  Upper  Creeks,"  who 
had  been  his  deputy,  and  was  then  his  successor,  resided  in 
the  Indian  country,  and  was  a  personage  of  vast  influence. 
General  Knox,  Secretary  of  War,  in  a  report  to  the  President, 
said  of  him :  "  He  had  an  English  education  ;  his  abilities  and 
ambition  appear  to  be  great;  his  resentments  are  probably 
unbounded  against  the  State  of  Georgia,  for  confiscating  his 
father's  estate,  and  the  estates  of  his  other  friends,  refugees 
from  Georgia,  several  of  whom  reside  with  him  among  the 
Creeks."  From  a  state  paper  of  an  earlier  date,  I  find  that 
Alexander,  in  1785,  obtained  permission,  to  form  connexions 
with,  and  establish  British  commercial  houses  for  the  supply  of 
the  Indians ;  and  that  he  was  an  agent  of  Spain  with  a  salary. 
He  is  everywhere  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  great  talents.  He 
died  at  Pensacola,  February  17,  1793. 

MCGILLIVRAY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Georgia.  He  went  to  England. 
He  was  in  London  in  1779. 

McGiNNis,  R.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion. 


456  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

McGLAUGHLiN,  WILLIAM.  He  was  quartermaster  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  and  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received 
half-pay.  He  died  in  the  County  of  York,  in  1827,  at  the  age 
of  seventy -five. 

MCGREGOR,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  New  York  Volun 
teers. 

McGuiRE,  THOMAS.  A  member  of  the  Council  of  North 
Carolina.  On  the  7th  of  April,  1775,  the  Whig  Convention 
for  electing  Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  was  in 
session  at  Newbern,  when  the  Council  advised  Governor  Mar 
tin  to  issue  his  Proclamation  to  dissolve  the  unlawful  Assem 
bly.  There  were  present  in  Council  on  this  occasion,  Hasell, 
Rutherford,  Howard,  De  Rossett,  McColloh,  Strudwicke,  Cor 
nell,  and  McGuire,  —  eight  members. 

McGuLLivROY,  WILLIAM  HENRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  After 
the  fall  of  Charleston  in  1780,  he  held  a  commission  under  the 
crown.  He  died,  I  suppose,  before  the  close  of  the  war.  His 
estate  was  confiscated. 

MclNTOsH,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

McKAM,  PATRICK.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

McKAY,  ANGUS.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1799,  aged  forty-four  years. 

McKAY,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment. 

McKAY,  JOHN.  He  entered  the  royal  military  service,  and 
was  a  captain  in  the  Queen's.  Rangers,  under  Simcoe.  He 
settled  in  York  County,  New  Brunswick,  after  the  war,  and 
held  public  stations  of  honor  and  trust.  He  died  in  that 
County  in  1822.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  Chief  Justice  Saun- 
ders  of  New  Brunswick. 

McKEE,  ALEXANDER.  A  "Loyalist  of  revengeful  machina 
tions."  He  was  imprisoned  by  the  Whigs  at  Pittsburgh,  but 
effected  his  escape.  In  1778  he  went  through  the  Indian  terri 
tory  to  Detroit,  to  excite  the  warriors  to  espous.6  the  royal 
cause.  After  the  peace,  he  was  deputy  agent  of  Indian  affairs  in 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  457 

Canada,  in  which  capacity  he  found  ample  opportunity  to  in 
dulge  his  hatred  towards  the  country  which  he  had  deserted 
in  the  hour  of  peril ;  and  the  Indian  war  of  Washington's  ad 
ministration  is  attributed,  principally,  to  his  influence  with 
the  savage  tribes.  In  1794,  during  General  Wayne's  cam 
paign,  his  barns,  stores,  and  other  property,  were  burned. 

McKEEL,  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  His  son  John  was 
killed  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1846,  in  an  affray 
with  a  neighbor. 

MCKENZIE,  ANDREW.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  in  the  royal  service.  Was  banished,  and  lost  his  estate 
in  1782. 

MCKENZIE,  COLONEL  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in 
commission  under  the  crown.  Was  banished,  and  lost  his 
estate  in  1782. 

MCKENZIE,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

MCKETHAN,  DUGALD.  An  ensign  in  the  North  Carolina  Vol 
unteers. 

McKiE,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

McKiMMEY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

McKLouN,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

McKouN,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax. 

MCLEAN,  ARCHIBALD.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  New  York 
Volunteers,  and  was  in  several  battles.  In  the  severe  conflict  at 
Eutaw  Springs,  he  was  distinguished  for  his  bravery  and  good 
conduct.  In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  During  the  war  of  1812  he  was 
again  in  commission,  and  was  staff  adjutant.  His  place  of 
39 


458  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

residence  was  in  York  County,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  and  a  magistrate  of  that  County,  for 
many  years.  He  died  at  Nashwaak,  New  Brunswick,  in  1830, 
aged  seventy-six.  He  received  half-pay. 

McLEAN,  CHARLES.  A  grantee  of  the  city  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

McLEOD,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Lost  his  estate  under 
the  confiscation  act  in  1779. 

McLEOD,  NORMAN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  a  captain  in 
the  North  Carolina  Highland  Regiment. 

McLEOD.  Of  North  Carolina.  Murdock  was  surgeon,  and 
Roderick  an  ensign  and  adjutant  of  the  North  Carolina  Vol 
unteers.  Besides  these,  a  Captain  McLeod  was  killed  in 
battle,  —  upwards  of  twenty  bullets  went  through  his  body. 

McLEOD,  NORMAN.  lo  1782  was  a  captain  in  the  third 
battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

McLEOD,  RODERICK.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  King's  American  Regiment ;  and  in  1782  there  was 
a  Donald,  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Orange  Rangers,  and  the 
same  year  a  Donald,  of  the  same  rank,  in  the  British  Legion. 
Among  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  were 
Duncan,  and  John  McLeod.  John  was  a  merchant,  and  died 
in  that  city  in  1805,  aged  forty-five. 

McLEOD,  WILLIAM.  Of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey.  Was 
appointed  an  ensign  in  the  Fifty-second  Regiment,  in  1775. 
On  the  6th  of  July,  the  Whig  Committee  of  that  town,  hear 
ing  that  he  had  gone  to  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  embark 
ing  there  for  Boston,  and  of  joining  his  regiment,  detained  his 
baggage,  and  notified  their  friends  at  New  York.  The  Provin 
cial  Congress  of  New  York  was  in  session,  and  voted  to  arrest 
him  and  send  him  back  to  Elizabethtown ;  but  to  treat  him 
with  all  possible  lenity  as  a  gentleman  and  soldier. 

McLiNACHus,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

McMAHON,  JOHN.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  Second  American 
Regiment  in  1782. 

MCMASTER,  DANIEL.     Merchant,   of  Boston.     Implicated  in 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  459 

some  measure  in  the  transactions  which  involved  James  and 
Patrick,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  that  town.  He  went  to 
Halifax  in  1776.  Resuming  the  business  to  which  he  was 
educated,  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  after  the  war,  he 
became  eminent.  He  married  Hannah  Ann,  the  only  daughter 
of  the  Reverend  Samuel  Andrews,  a  Loyalist  clergyman.  She 
died  at  St.  Andrew,  September  28,  1827,  and  his  own  death 
occurred  at  the  same  place,  June  16,  1830,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  courteous  and  affa 
ble  manners. 

MCMASTER,  JAMES.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Having  violated 
the  non-importation  agreement,  he  found  popular  opinion  so 
strong  against  him,  that  he  removed  to  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  At  that  place,  his  delinquency  was  soon  known, 
and  a  public  meeting  was  held,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that 
it  was  highly  unreasonable  to  suffer  persons  who  had  counter 
acted  the  plans  of  the  Whigs  of  the  neighboring  Colonies,  to 
come  there  and  sell  their  goods,  and  that  those  who  encour 
aged,  aided,  or  assisted  such  persons,  should  be  regarded  as 
enemies  to  the  town.  McMaster,  in  1775,  signed  and  published 
a  Submission,  but  was  compelled  to  leave.  By  the  act  of  New 
Hampshire  of  1778,  he  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his 
property  confiscated.  In  Boston  his  offences  seem  to  have 
been  two-fold :  first,  the  selling  of  Tea,  and  the  enrolling 
himself  among  the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson.  He  settled 
eventually  at  St.  Patrick,  New  Brunswick,  where  he  resumed 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  was  highly  respected.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  the  late  Honorable  James  Allanshaw,  mem 
ber  of  her  Majesty's  Legislative  Council  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  another  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Reverend  Samuel  Thomp 
son,  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  St.  George.  McMaster 
died  in  Charlotte  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1804. 

MCMASTER,  JOHN.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and 
his  estate  confiscated  by  the  act  of  New  Hampshire. 

MCMASTER,  PATRICK.  Merchant  of  Boston,  and  a  partner 
of  James.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 
Quitting  the  country  with  the  British  army  at  the  evacuation 


460  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  Boston  in  1776,  he  became  a  merchant  at  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia. 

McMATH,  WILLIAM.  He  was  a  Whig  soldier  of  Colonel 
Lamb's  Artillery,  and  in  1778  was  tried  for  desertion  to  the 
royal  forces.  The  Court  found  him  guilty,  and  sentenced  him 
to  be  immediately  executed.  Washington,  subsequently,  post 
poned  his  doom,  and  finally  pardoned  him. 

MCMILLAN,  ALEXANDER.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  De 
Lancey's  Second  Battalion. 

MCMILLAN,  .  A  lieutenant  in  De  Lancey's  First  Battal 
ion  ;  and  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

McMoNGLE,  HUGH.  After  settling  in  New  Brunswick,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  from  the  County  of  Westmore 
land.  In  1803,  while  travelling  on  the  ice,  he  broke  through, 
and  was  drowned. 

McMuLLEN,  ALEXANDER.  Embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

McNAB,  ALLAN.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers,  under  Colonel  Simcoe.  During  the  war  he  received 
thirteen  wounds.  He  accompanied  his  commander  to  Upper 
Canada,  then  a  dense  unpeopled  wilderness,  where  he  settled. 
His  son,  Sir  Allan  Me  Nab,  is  a  noted  man.  He  was  born 
some  years  after  his  father  became  an  inhabitant  of  Canada, 
and  in  the  war  of  1812  was  a  lad.  But  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
he  volunteered  to  join  a  grenadier  company  of  the  eighth 
British  regiment,  in  an  attack  in  which  most  of  the  company 
were  killed ;  and  was  subsequently  engaged  in  several  other 
actions.  His  affair,  in  cutting  out  and  burning  the  steamer 
Caroline,  during  the  recent  insurrection  in  Canada,  is  too  fresh 
in  the  public  mind  to  need  a  particular  mention.  For  his 
conduct  on  this  occasion  he  was  knighted ;  and  for  this  and 
other  services  at  the  head  of  the  loyal  militia  in  the  course  of 
the  outbreak,  thanks  were  voted  him  by  several  Colonial  legisla 
tures,  the  militia  of  Upper  Canada  presented  him  with  a  sword, 
and  the  United  Service  Club  in  London,  in  opposition  to  a 
standing  rule,  selected  him  an  honorary  member.  Previous  to 
the  union  of  the  two  Colonies,  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  461 

Assembly  of  Upper  Canada,  but  lost  the  place  and  its  emolu 
ments,  when  the  act  of  parliament  creating  but  one  legislative 
body  went  into  operation.  He  applied  for  indemnification, 
but,  it  is  believed,  has  been  unsuccessful.  He  held  also  the 
post  of  Queen's  Counsel  in  the  district  in  which  he  resides, 
but  has  been  superseded,  "  to  gratify  the  revenge,"  says  Sir 
Francis  Head,  "  of  rebels  against  whom  Sir  Allan  had  been 
obliged  to  appear  as  prosecutor  for  the  crown." 

McNAiR,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated  in  1779.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  Governor  Martin, 
before  the  royal  government  came  to  an  end  in  1775,  was,  to 
appoint  this  gentleman  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  County 
of  Orange. 

McNAiR,  RALPH.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779.  Before  the  Revolution,  he  was  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

MCNAMARA,  PATRICK.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783. 

McNiEL,  ARCHIBALD.  Baker,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774.  and  of  Gage  in  1775  ;  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

McNiEL,  CHARLES  and  NIEL.  Of  Connecticut.  Were  mem 
bers  of  the  Reading  Association. 

McNiEL,  CHARLES.  Residence  unknown.  Was  captain  lieu 
tenant  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  American  Volunteers.  ARCHI 
BALD,  (possibly  the  Archibald  of  Boston,)  was  a  member  of  the 
Loyal  Artillery  in  1795,  and  died  on  the  river  St.  John  about 
the  year  1808. 

McNiEL,  DANIEL.  In  1782  was  captain  of  the  North  Caro 
lina  Volunteers ;  and  John  was  an  ensign  in  the  same  corps. 

McNiEL,  DOMINICK.  Of  Tuscarora,  Pennsylvania.  Failing 
to  appear  and  to  be  tried  for  treason,  the  Council,  in  1778, 
directed  that  he  should  stand  attainted. 

McNiEL,  DUNCAN.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  major  of  the 
Cumberland  County  regiment,  but  in  consequence  of  his  ad 
herence  to  the  crown,  the  Whigs  dismissed  him  from  office  in 
1776,  and  commissioned  David  Smith,  Esquire,  in  his  stead. 
39* 


462  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

James,  of  Halifax  County,  and  Arthur,  lost  their  estates  in 
1779,  under  the  confiscation  act. 

McNiEL,  HECTOR.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  a  person  of 
some  consideration.  In  the  first  military  elections  after  the 
royal  government  was  at  an  end,  he  received  a  commission  at 
the  hands  of  the  Whigs.  But  in  1776  he  appeared  in  arms 
against  them,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  and  confined  in  jail. 

McNiEL,  JAMES.  Was  proprietor  of  a  lot  at  Red  Head,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1784. 

McNiEL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  Accompanied  the  British 
troops  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation,  and  remained  in  exile 
during  the  war.  In  1784  he  returned  to  Boston  by  way  of 
Philadelphia. 

McPHERsoN,  CHARLES.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick.  He  removed  from  King's  Bridge,  New  York,  and 
died  at  St.  John,  1823,  aged  seventy. 

MCPHERSON,  DONALD.  Was  a  captain  of  infantry  in  the  Brit 
ish  Legion. 

MCPHERSON,  LIEUTENANT .  Of  the  New  York  Volunteers  ; 

was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

MCPHERSON,  PETER.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Guides  and  Pio 
neers. 

MEGAN,  EDWARD.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment. 

MECKLEJOHN,  GEORGE.  An  Episcopal  minister,  of  North 
Carolina.  Though  "  a  high  church-man  in  his  religion,  and 
a  high  Tory  in  politics,"  the  Provincial  Congress  in  August, 
1775,  were  compelled  to  employ  him  as  their  chaplain.  The 
service  was  one  of  necessity  on  both  sides ;  and  quite  as  un 
willingly  as  he  was  engaged  on  the  part  of  the  Whigs,  he  per 
formed  the  duty.  His  place  of  residence  seems  to  have  been 
Hillsborough. 

MEEKER,  JONATHAN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member 
of  the  Association  of  Loyalists ;  as  was  Ephraim  Meeker  of 
the  same  town. 

MEETIN,  PETER.  A  magistrate,  of  New  York.  He  lived  at 
or  near  Warrensburgh.  In  1775  he  declared  in  a  company  of 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  463 

men  who  had  met  to  talk  about  the  troublesome  times,  that  he 
"  had  the  king's  proclamation  from  Governor  Gage,  to  offer 
pardon  to  any  person  who  would  recant  from  the  Whig  Asso 
ciation,"  and  that  he  "expected  soon  to  have  the  handling  of 
the  estates  of  all  such  as  refused,"  &c. 

MEGGETT,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

MEGOUN,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MEIN,  JOHN.  Printer  and  bookseller,  of  Boston.  Partner 
of  Fleming  in  the  publication  of  the  Boston  Chronicle.  He 
was  well  educated,  and  possessed  literary  talents  to  a  very 
respectable  degree.  He  took  a  decided  part  in  favor  of  the 
oppressive  acts  of  the  British  ministry ;  and  the  Chronicle  be 
came  a  vehicle  for  the  most  bitter  attacks  upon  some  of  the 
prominent  Whigs  of  Massachusetts.  Mein,  who  was  the 
editor,  became  so  obnoxious,  that  he  finally  secreted  himself 
until  an  opportunity  occurred  for  going  to  England.  He  em 
barked  in  November  of  1769 ;  his  bookstore  was  then  closed, 
and  the  Chronicle  was  discontinued  soon  after,  in  1770.  In 
London  he  engaged  himself,  under  pay  of  the  British  govern 
ment,  as  a  writer  against  the  Colonies,  but  after  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities,  sought  other  employment.  He  never 
returned  to  the  United  States. 

MELLOWS,  MICHAEL.  In  1775  he  was  sent  prisoner  from 
Long  Island,  New  York,  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined 
within  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Sutton. 

MELVILLE,  DAVID.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city ;  and  in  1784  was 
proprietor  of  lands  opposite  Long  Island,  New  Brunswick. 

MENZIES,  ALEXANDER.  Of  New  York.  Was  major  of  De 
Lancey's  Third  Battalion,  and  died  at  Hempstead,  New 
York,  in  1781. 

MENZIES,  ALEXANDER.  Of  New  York.  Was  an  ensign  in  a 
corps  of  Loyalists.  In  1 783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  received  the  grant  of  a  city  lot.  He  enjoyed  half- 
pay. 


464  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

MENZIES,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  established  himself  as  a  mer 
chant. 

.  MENZIES,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  major  in  the 
American  Legion,  the  corps  commanded  by  Arnold  after  his 
treason.  In  1783  Major  Menzies  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  held  various  civil  and  military  offices.  He  died  near  St. 
John  in  1831,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-eight.  He  re 
ceived  half-pay  nearly  half  a  century. 

MERCER,  JOSEPH.  A  captain  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists.  He 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  died  there.  Sarah,  his  widow, 
died  in  Norton,  King's  County,  in  1837,  aged  ninety. 

MERREN,  PEREZ.  In  1775  he  was  sent  prisoner  from  Long 
Island,  New  York,  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Shrewsbury. 

MERRIN,  JOSEPH.     Surgeon  of  the  Georgia  Loyalists. 

MERRITT,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  cornet 
of  cavalry  in  the  Queen's  Rangers.  He  settled  in  Upper 
Canada,  and  held  the  offices  of  sheriff  of  the  District  of 
Niagara,  and  surveyor  of  the  king's  forests.  He  received  half- 
pay  as  a  retired  military  officer.  He  died  at  St.  Catharine's, 
May,  1842,  aged  eighty-two.  His  brother  Nehemiah,  who 
was  a  gentleman  of  great  wealth,  died  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  the  same  year,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two. 

MERRITT,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  Settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1821,  aged  ninety-five. 

MERRITT.  Several  of  Westchester  County,  New  York,  were 
Protesters ;  namely,  Elisha,  Edward,  and  Edward  junior,  Na 
thaniel,  and  Elisha. 

MERSEREAU,  JOHN,  DAVID,  and  PAUL,  Junior.  Were  grantees 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

MESERVE,  GEORGE.  Distributer  of  Stamps  for  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Portsmouth  ;  was  pro 
scribed  by  the  acts  of  New  Hampshire  of  1778,  and  his  estate, 
real  and  personal,  confiscated.  He  was  a  native  of  Ports 
mouth,  and  his  father,  who  was  a  ship-carpenter  by  trade, 
was  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  New  Hampshire  troops  at  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  465 

siege  of  Louisburg  in  1745,  and  was  engaged  in  the  expedi 
tion  against  that  city  in  1758.  History  assigns  to  Colonel 
Meserve  the  device  of  constructing  the  rude  sledges  on  which 
the  cannon  were  drawn  over  the  morasses  near  Louisburg 
during  the  first  siege.  George,  the  son,  while  in  England,  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  stamp  distributer;  and  embarking 
for  home,  arrived  at  Boston  in  September  of  1765.  Before 
landing,  he  was  informed  of  the  opposition  to  the  act,  and 
was  advised  to  resign  his  office,  which  he  did.  On  reaching 
Portsmouth,  he  resigned  a  second  time  on  the  parade,  be 
fore  going  to  his  residence.  Subsequently,  on  receiving  his 
commission,  the  Sons  of  Liberty  compelled  him  publicly  to 
surrender  that  instrument,  which  they  bore  about  the  town  on 
the  point  of  a  sword;  and  required  of  him  on  oath  before 
Justice  Claggett,  that  he  would  not  directly  or  indirectly  at 
tempt  the  performance  of  official  duty.  After  the  repeal  of  the 
act,  and  on  the  arrival  of  Secretary  Conway's  circular  in  1766, 
enclosing  a  resolution  of  parliament  to  the  effect,  that  the 
Colonies  should  make  recompense  to  such  persons  as  had  suf 
fered  injury  or  damage  in  consequence  of  their  assisting  to 
execute  the  act,  Meserve  applied  to  the  Assembly  of  New 
Hampshire  for  compensation,  which  application  was  referred 
to  a  committee,  who  made  a  report  adverse  to  his  claim,  and 
it  was  dismissed.  He  afterwards  went  to  England  and  ob 
tained  the  office  of  Comptroller  of  the  Customs  at  Boston  ;  but 
by  permission  of  the  British  government,  he  exchanged  places 
with  Robert  Hallowell,  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Ports 
mouth.  This  collectorship  was  worth  about  £600  sterling 
per  annum ;  and  Meserve  held  it  for  some  years,  until  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution.  He  retired  from  New 
Hampshire  in  1776,  and  accompanied  the  British  army  to 
Halifax. 

METZNER,  FREDERICK.  Was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the 
American  Legion  under  Arnold. 

MICHIE,  HARRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  Went  to  England. 
He  was  an  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779. 

MIDDLETON,  A.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England.  In  1779 
he  was  in  London. 


466  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

MILBY,  WILLIAM.  Yeoman,  of  Sussex  County,  Delaware. 
In  1778  it  was  declared  by  law,  that  failing  to  surrender  and 
be  tried  for  his  treason  and  offences,  his  property  should  be 
confiscated  to  the  State. 

MILES,  ELIJAH.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
Third  Battalion.  In  1783  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and 
became  a  person  of  note.  He  was  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  a  Colonel  in  the  militia,  and  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly.  He  died  at  Maugerville,  in  the  County 
of  Sunbury,  in  1831,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  He  received 
half-pay. 

MILES,  SAMUEL.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  in  1805 
was  an  alderman  of  St.  John.  He  died  in  1824,  aged  eighty- 
two. 

MILES,  THOMAS,  Junior.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick. 

MILLAR,  CHARLES  HENRY.  An  officer  in  the  Queen's  Ran 
gers. 

MILLAR,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

MILLAR,  NATHANIEL  B.  Was  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the 
South  Carolina  Royalists. 

MILLAR,  THOMAS.  A  captain  of  infantry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

MILLER,  ALEXANDER.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1827,  aged  seventy-four. 

MILLER,  ANDREW.  Merchant,  of  Halifax,  North  Carolina. 
The  Whig  Committee  of  Halifax  County,  December  21,  1774, 
''Resolved  unanimously,  To  show  our  disapprobation  of  his 
conduct,  and  to  encourage  such  merchants  who  have  signed 
the  Association,  that  we  will  not,  from  this  day,  purchase 
any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandises  of  any  kind  whatever, 
from  said  Andrew  Miller,  or  any  person  acting  for,  or  in 
partnership  with  him ;  and  that  we  will  have  no  commerce  or 
dealings  with  him,  after  paying  our  just  debts,  and  fulfilling 
the  contracts  already  entered  into  for  commodities  of  this  year's 
produce;  and  we  also  recommend  it  to  the  people  of  this 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  467 

County  in  particular,  and  to  all  who  wish  well  to  their  coun 
try,  to  adopt  the  same  measure."  In  1779  his  property  was 
confiscated.  He  was,  probably,  a  person  of  standing.  I  find 
in  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  of  North  Carolina,  who  was  in 
London  in  1774,  to  a  friend  at  home,  the  following  passage. 
"  When  I  left  my  power  of  attachment  with  you,  I  told  you 
that  Andrew  Miller  and  I  had  agreed,  that  all  money  you  or 
he  might  receive  of  mine,  should  lie  in  his  hands  for  three 
years,  he  paying  me  interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  for 
two  years  and  a  half  only.  I  had  a  letter  from  him  lately,  in 
which  he  appears  perfectly  to  recollect  this,  but  seems  to  have 
forgot  that  the  money  was  to  be  remitted  at  the  Virginia  ex 
change,  making  an  allowance  of  thirty-five  per  cent,  to  bring 
the  product  into  Virginia  money ;  he  charges  thirty-three  and 
one  half,"  &c. 

MILLER,  E.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  at  Braintree,  Mas 
sachusetts.  He  was  a  missionary  from  the  Society  for  Pro 
pagating  the  Gospel,  and  his  name  is  connected  with  the 
earliest  disputes  of  the  Revolution.  He  died  in  1762  or  1763, 
at  which  time  the  project  of  sending  a  Bishop  to  America  had 
been  agitated  for  some  years ;  and  the  minds  of  the  people 
were  well  prepared  for  an  attack  upon  the  established  church. 
His  decease  was  unkindly  noticed  in  one  of  the  newspapers, 
which  created  a  heated  controversy ;  and  before  the  excite 
ment  was  allayed,  the  dissenters  found  themselves  arrayed  on 
one  side,  and  the  dependents  of  the  crown  on  the  other.  The 
writings  which  his  labors  and  decease  produced,  are  to  be 
considered  as  a  part  of  the  revolutionary  dissensions  in  Mas 
sachusetts.  For  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  in  that  Colony,  the 
question  of  Episcopacy,  had  very  great  influence  in  the  forma 
tion  and  in  the  action  of  the  two  political  parties. 

MILLER,  GEORGE.  An  eminent  merchant,  of  Dobbs  County, 
North  Carolina.  His  property  was  confiscated  in  1779.  For 
a  while  he  seems  to  have  acted  heartily  with  the  Whigs.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Conventions  in  1774  and  1775,  which 
Governor  Martin  denounced,  and  which  sustained  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Hewes  and  Hooper,  who 


468  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  were  his  associates  in 
1774.  In  1776,  he  fell  off,  declaring,  that  he  was  by  no  means 
ripe  for  so  strong  and  questionable  a  measure,  as  that  of 
entire  separation  from  the  mother  country.  His  defection  was 
much  regretted,  since  he  was  a  gentleman  of  consideration, 
and  of  noble  traits  of  character.  Yet  he  did  much  to  oppose 
the  sanguinary  intolerance  of  the  Loyalists  of  North  Carolina, 
and  on  one  occasion,  appeared  in  opposition  to  them  at  the 
head  of  a  company  of  volunteer  riflemen.  He  went  to  Scot 
land.  In  1779  he  was  in  London,  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of 
the  king. 

MILLER,  JOHN.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army, 
for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

MILLER,  ROBERT.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England.  He  was 
in  London  July,  1779. 

MILLER,  STEPHEN.  He  was  a  magistrate  of  the  County  of 
York,  New  Brunswick,  and  died  at  Fredericton  in  1817,  aged 
ninety. 

MILLER,  THOMAS.  An  ensign  of  infantry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

MILLER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  In  1782  there  was  a 
cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion  of  this  name. 

MILLIDGE,  THOMAS.  Of  New  Jersey.  Previous  to  the  Rev 
olution,  he  was  his  Majesty's  surveyor  general  of  that  Colony. 
He  entered  the  military  service,  and  was  major  of  the  first 
battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  raised  by  Skinner.  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  New  Brunswick,  and  made  a 
survey  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  and  the  waters  adjacent.  He 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  a  colonel  in  the  militia.  He 
died  at  Granville,  Annapolis  County,  in  1816,  aged  eighty-one. 
Mercy,  his  widow,  survived  him  four  years,  and  died  at 
Annapolis  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  His  son  Thomas  was  an 
eminent  merchant,  a  magistrate,  and  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  and  resided  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  until 
his  decease,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two. 

MILLIDGE,  PHINEAS.     Of  New  Jersey.     Son  of  Thomas  Mil- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  469 

lidge.  He  was  an  ensign  in  his  father's  battalion,  and  retired 
on  half-pay.  He  died  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1836, 
aged  seventy-one. 

MILLIGAN,  JOSEPH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MILLS,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  England,  July, 
1779. 

MILLS,  NATHANIEL.  Printer,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  He  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  and  served 
his  apprenticeship  with  Fleming,  already  noticed.  The  friends 
of  the  royal  government  urged  him  and  John  Hicks  to  pur 
chase  of  Green  and  Russell,  the  Massachusetts  Gazette  and 
Post  Boy,  which  they  did  in  1773.  Under  their  management, 
this  paper  took  strong  ground  in  opposition  to  the  measures  of 
the  Whigs,  and  defended  the  ministry  and  Colonial  servants  of 
the  crown,  with  great  zeal  and  ability.  The  commencement 
of  hostilities  in  1775,  put  an  end  to  its  publication.  Mills  re 
mained  with  the  British  troops  while  they  occupied  Boston, 
and  on  the  evacuation,  accompanied  them  to  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Great  Britain,  but  soon  re 
turned  to  New  York,  and  became  interested  with  the  Robert 
sons,  in  the  Royal  American  Gazette.  He  continued  in  New 
York  during  the  remainder  of  the  war,  and  at  the  peace  went 
a  second  time  to  Halifax,  and  from  thence  to  Shelburne,  in  the 
same  Colony. 

MILLS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated.  He  may  have  been  inclined  to 
the  Whig  side  in  1775,  since  in  that  year  the  Whig  Convention 
made  him  a  member  of  the  Committee  to  carry  out  the  views  of 
the  Continental  Congress  on  the  subject  of  the  Association. 

MILLS,  WILLIAM  HENRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  held  a 
royal  commission  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  in  1 780.  He  died 
probably*  before  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  His  property 
was  confiscated. 

MILLS.  Several  persons  of  this  name  signed  a  Declaration 
of  loyalty  in  January,  1775.  To  wit :  David  Mills,  Obadiah 
40 


470  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Mills,  John  Mills,  Nathaniel  Mills,  junior,  and  Hope  Mills 
junior.  They  all  belonged  to  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  New 
York.  In  1776  the  following,  of  Queen's  County,  signed  an 
acknowledgment  of  allegiance ;  to  wit :  Isaac,  Obadiah, 
Amos,  Nathaniel  junior,  and  Samuel.  John  Mills  was  a 
grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

MITCHELL,  ANDREW.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MITCHELL,  AUGUSTINE,  JOHN,  JOHN  Junior,,  and  ROBERT.  Of 
Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  Oc 
tober,  1776. 

MITCHELL,  GARY.  Of  Yirginia.  Went  to  England,  and  was 
in  London  July,  1779. 

MITCHELL,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  After  the  fall  of 
Charleston  in  1780,  he  held  an  office  under  the  crown.  Estate 
confiscated. 

MITCHELL,  THOMAS.  Mariner,  of  Boston.  Went  to  Halifax 
in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

MITCHELSON,  DAVID.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax. 

MITCHELSON,  DAVID.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with 
the  British  army,  for  Halifax. 

MINOT,  CHRISTOPHER.  Tide-waiter,  of  Boston.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

MINOT,  SAMUEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year. 

MIOT,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MOFFAT,  JAMES.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  American 
Regiment. 

MOFFAT,  THOMAS.  Physician,  of  New  London.  He  had 
property  in  Massachusetts,  which  was  confiscated  by  an  act  of 
that  State.  He  was  one  of  the  writers  of  the  letters  sent  to 
Massachusetts  by  Franklin.  He  went  to  England,  and  was  a 
Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king,  July,  1779. 

MONCRIEF,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  471 

MONDEN,  CHARLES.  In  17 '?  2  he  was  chaplain  of  the  Second 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

MONFORT,  GARRET,  JOHN,  PETER,  and  W.  Of  Queen's  Coun 
ty,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

MONTELL,  ANTHONY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

MONTGOMERY,  ARCHIBALD.  Was  at  New  York,  June,  1783, 
preparing  to  embark  for  Nova  Scotia. 

MONTGOMERY,  JOHN.  Was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1785. 

MONTGOMERY,  JOSEPH.  Was  an  auctioneer  in  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  1785. 

MONTGOMERY,  WILLIAM.  Was  an  ensign  in  De  Lancey's 
Third  Battalion. 

MOODY,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  was  a  celebrated 
partisan  officer,  and  performed  many  exploits  peculiar  to  that 
species  of  warfare.  He  delighted  in  seizing  and  carrying  off 
Whig  Committee-men,  and  was  fond  of  relating  the  means 
which  he  employed  to  catch  them.  At  the  peace,  he  settled 
in  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  was  known  as  Colonel  Moody.  He 
died  at  Sissibou,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1809,  aged  sixty-five.  He 
received  half-pay. 

MOODY,  JOHN.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with  the 
British  army,  for  Halifax.  He  was  accompanied  by  John 
Moody,  junior. 

MOODY,  JOHN.  In  1781  he  was  executed  at  Philadelphia  as 
a  spy. 

MOORE,  BENJAMIN.  Of  New  York.  An  Episcopal  clergyman. 
Was  deputy  chaplain  of  the  hospital  staff,  and  was  stationed 
at  the  city  in  1782,  and  at  the  same  time  was  assistant  rector. 

MOORE,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  In  1776  he  embarked  at 
Boston,  with  the  British  army,  for  Halifax.  The  death  of  a 
Loyalist  of  this  name  occurred  on  the  river  St.  John,  about 
the  year  17ijO.  He  was  supposed,  by  one  who  remembers 
him,  to  have  been  a  native  of  New  England. 

MOORE.     Loyalists  of  this  name  were  numerous.     Those  of 


472  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Queen's  County,  New  York,  who  acknowledged  allegiance  in 
1776,  were,  Joseph,  John,  Jacob,  Samuel  senior,  John  junior, 
James,  Lambert,  Stephen,  Nathaniel,  Nathaniel  junior,  Benja 
min,  Samuel,  and  David.  Among  the  Addressers  of  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Sterling  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  in  April, 
1779,  were,  John  Moore,  John  junior,  Samuel  senior,  Jacob, 
Samuel  the  3d,  John,  David,  Samuel  junior,  Nathaniel,  and 
Nathaniel  junior. 

MOORE,  JOHN.  In  1782  was  deputy  receiver-general  of  quit 
rents  of  New  York.  In  July,  1783,  he  announced  his  deter 
mination  to  remove  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  one  of  the  fifty- 
five  petitioners  who  applied  for  extensive  grants  of  land  in 
that  Colony.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

MOORE,  LAMBERT.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  notary  public  in 
the  city,  and  an  officer  in  the  Superintendent  Department. 

MOORE,  THOMAS  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  captain 
in  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion. 

MOORE,  THOMAS.  Of  New  Jersey.  Was  chairman  of  a 
Loyalist  meeting  at  Hackensack,  in  1775. 

MOORE,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon  County,  North  Carolina.  Lost  his 
estate  in  1779,  under  the  confiscation  act. 

MORAN;  JAMES.  Was  an  officer  in  the  Superintendent  De 
partment  at  New  York. 

MORE,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  He  was  a  soldier  under  the  crown,  and  served  under 
Sir  John  Johnson,  and  was  living  in  1838,  to  relate  his  adven 
tures  and  those  of  the  corps  to  which  he  belonged. 

MOREHOUSE,  DANIEL.  Of  Connecticut.  A  member  of  the 
Reading  Association.  He  became  an  officer  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers,  and  retired  at  the  close  of  the  war  on  half-pay.  He 
went  to  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  magistrate,  and  a  major 
in  the  militia.  He  died  in  the  County  of  York  in  1835,  aged 
seventy-seven. 

MOREHOUSE,  JAMES.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

MOREHOUSE,  JOHN.  Of  Connecticut.  A  member  of  the  Read 
ing  Association.  He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  at  his  de- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  473 

cease  was  one  of  the  oldest  magistrates  in  the  Colony.  He 
died  on  Digby  Neck  in  1839,  aged  seventy-eight. 

MORGAN,  CAPTAIN  JAMES.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Association. 

MORGANAN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  he  was 
tried  on  a  charge  of  holding  intercourse  with  the  royal  forces, 
and  for  other  offences ;  and  was  sentenced  to  be  kept  at  hard 
labor  during  the  war,  not  less  than  thirty  miles  from  the  British 
camp,  and  to  suffer  death  if  caught  making  his  escape. 

MORGRIDGE,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Went  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  in  London. 

MORRELL.  Eleven  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
John,  Robert,  John,  James,  John,  Thomas,  John,  Richard, 
Caleb,  Jonathan,  and  Joseph.  Among  the  Addressers  of  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Sterling  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  April, 
1779,  were  John  Morrell.  Richard.  James,  Jonathan,  Abraham 
senior,  and  Abraham  junior.  John  Morrell,  a  Loyalist,  died 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1817,  aged  sixty-nine ;  proba 
bly  one  of  the  above. 

MORRIS,  DAVID.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1817, 
aged  sixty-six  years. 

MORRIS,  ENOCH.  Wheelwright,  of  Hilstown,  Pennsylvania. 
In  Council,  in  1778,  it  was  ordered,  that,  failing  to  surrender  to 
be  tried  for  treason,  he  stand  attainted. 

MORRIS,  JOHN.  Comptroller  of  the  Customs  of  South  Caro 
lina. 

MORRIS,  ROGER.  Of  New  York.  In  the  French  war  he  was 
a  captain  in  the  British  army,  and  one  of  the  aids  of  the  ill- 
fated  Braddock.  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Frederick 
Phillipse,  Esquire,  and  settled  in  New  York.  At  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Revolution  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Colony,  and  continued  in  office  until  the  peace, 
although  the  Whigs  organized  a  government  as  early  as  1777, 
under  a  written  and  well  framed  constitution.  A  part  of  the 
Phillipse  estate  was  in  possession  of  Colonel  Morris  in  right  of 
his  wife,  and  was  confiscated;  and  that  the  whole  interest 
40* 


474  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

should  pass  under  the  act,  Mrs.  Morris  was  included  in  the 
attainder.  It  is  believed  that  this  lady,  her  sister  Mrs.  Robin 
son,  and  Mrs.  Ingles,  were  the  only  females  who  were  at 
tainted  of  treason  during  the  struggle.  But  it  appeared  in  due 
time,  that  the  confiscation  act  did  not  affect  the  rights  of  Mrs. 
Morris's  children.  The  fee-simple  of  the  estate  was  valued  by 
the  British  government  at  £20,000 ;  and,  by  the  rules  of  de 
termining  the  worth  of  life  interests,  the  life  interests  of 
Colonel  Morris  and  his  wife  were  fixed  at  £12,605,  for  which 
sum  they  received  a  certificate  of  compensation. 

In  1787  the  attorney-general  of  England  examined  the  case, 
and  gave  the  opinion,  that  the  reversionary  interest  (or  property 
of  the  children  at  the  decease  of  the  parents)  was  not  included 
in  their  attainder,  and  was  recoverable  under  the  principles  of 
law  and  of  right.  In  the  year  1809,  their  son,  Captain  Henry 
Gage  Morris  of  the  royal  navy,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  his 
two  sisters,  accordingly  sold  this  reversionary  interest  to  John 
Jacob  Astor,  Esquire,  of  New  York,  for  the  sum  of  £20,000 
sterling.  In  1828  Mr.  Astor  made  a  compromise  with  the 
State  of  New  York,  by  which  he  received  for  the  rights  thus 
purchased  by  him  (with  or  without  associates)  the  large 
amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  terms  of  the 
arrangement  required,  that  within  a  specified  time  he  should 
execute  a  deed  of  conveyance  in  fee-simple,  with  warrantee 
against  the  claims  of  the  Morrises — husband  and  wife  —  their 
heirs,  and  all  persons  claiming  under  them ;  and  that  he 
should  also  obtain  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  affirming  the  validity  and  perfectibility  of  his 
title.  These  conditions  were  complied  with,  and  the  respecta 
ble  body  of  farmers,  who  held  the  confiscated  lands  under 
titles  derived  from  the  sales  of  the  commissioners  of  forfeitures, 
were  thus  quieted  in  their  possessions.  Colonel  Morris  died  in 
England  in  1794,  aged  sixty-seven;  and  Mary,  his  widow, 
died  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six.  Their  remains  were 
deposited  near  Savior-gate  Church,  York.  Their  son,  above 
mentioned,  erected  a  monument  to  their  memory.  It  is  under 
stood  that  the  British  government  made  them  a  second  com- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  475 

pensation  for  their  losses,  and  that  the  whole  sum  received 
was  £17,001)  sterling.  Their  children  were  as  follows ;  Henry 
Gage,  a  captain  in  the  royal  navy  ;  Amherst,  who  was  named 
for  his  god-father  Lord  Amherst,  who  was  also  a  captain  in 
the  royal  navy,  and  who  died  unmarried  in  1802;  Joanna, 
who  married  Captain  Thomas  Cowper  Hincks,  of  the  British 
Dragoons,  and  who  died  in  1819 ;  and  another  daughter  whose 
name  and  fate  have  not  been  ascertained.  To  the  memory  of 
Captain  Amherst  Morris,  there  is  a  monument  at  Baildon, 
England.  Of  Captain  Henry  Gage  Morris,  honorable  mention 
is  made  in  the  British  naval  history.  Of  Mrs.  Morris's  early 
life,  there  is  a  most  interesting  incident.  That  Washington 
had  some  desire  to  become  her  suitor,  is  a  fact  which  rests  on 
the  highest  authority. 

In  Mr.  Sparks's  Life  of  the  illustrious  Commander-in-chief, 
there  is  the  following  passage.  "  While  in  New  York,"  in 
1756,  Washington  "  was  lodged  and  kindly  entertained  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Beverley  Robinson,  between  whom  and  himself 
an  intimacy  of  friendship  subsisted,  which  indeed  continued 
without  change,  till  severed  by  their  opposite  fortunes  twenty 
years  afterwards  in  the  Revolution.  It  happened  that  Miss 
Mary  Phillips,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Robinson,  and  a  young  lady  of 
rare  accomplishments,  was  an  inmate  in  the  family.  The 
charms  of  this  lady  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  heart  of 
the  Virginia  Colonel.  He  went  to  Boston,  returned,  and  was 
again  welcomed  to  the  hospitality  of  Mr.  Robinson.  He 
lingered  there  till  duty  called  him  away;  but  he  was  careful 
to  entrust  his  secret  to  a  confidential  friend,  whose  letters  kept 
him  informed  of  every  important  event.  In  a  few  months 
intelligence  came  that  a  rival  was  in  the  field,  and  that  the 
consequences  could  not  be  answered  for,  if  he  delayed  to  renew 
his  visits  to  New  York.  Whether  time,  the  bustle  of  the 
camp,  or  the  scenes  of  war,  had  moderated  his  admiration,  or 
whether  he  despaired  of  success,  is  not  known.  He  never 
saw  the  lady  again,  till  she  was  married  to  that  same  rival, 
Captain  Morris,  his  former  associate  in  arms,  and  one  of 
Braddock's  aids-de-camp."  In  an  English  work,  shown  tome 


476  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

by  Mrs.  Morris's  relatives  in  New  Brunswick,  it  is  stated  that 
she  refused  Washington.  But  this  is  very  doubtful ;  and  the 
passage  just  cited,  which  is  founded  upon  Washington's 
papers,  seems  to  utterly  disprove  the  assertion.  Imagination 
dwells  upon  the  outlawry  of  a  lady  whose  beauty  and  virtues 
won  the  admiration  of  the  great  Whig  Chief.  Humanity  is 
shocked,  that  a  woman  was  attainted  of  treason,  for  no  crime 
but  that  of  clinging  to  the  fortunes  of  the  husband,  whom  she 
had  vowed  on  the  altar  of  religion  never  to  desert. 

MORRISON,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  New  York.  Was  an  ensign  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment. 

MORRISON,  GEORGE  and  MALCOLM.  Of  New  York.  Lost 
their  estates  under  the  confiscation  act  of  that  State. 

MORRISON,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  ordained 
at  Peterborough  in  1766.  In  1772  the  connexion  was  dis 
solved,  when  he  visited  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  After 
his  return,  in  1775,  he  joined  the  army  at  Cambridge,  but 
went  over  to  the  royal  army  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Bunker's  Hill,  and  was  appointed  to  a  place  in  the  commissary 
department.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished  under 
the  Act  of  New  Hampshire.  He  died  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1782.  His  wife  was  Sarah 
Ferguson,  of  Peterborough.  Mrs.  Morrison  was  living  in 
1S22. 

MORROW,  COLONEL .  Of  Boston.  He  was  in  England 

in  1776,  and  in  1783  a  Loyalist  Refugee;  and  was  a  pensioner 
of  the  British  government. 

MORTON,  ALEXANDER.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783. 

MORTON,  LEMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  Settled  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  was  a  magistrate,  and  a  major  in  the  militia.  He  died  at 
Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1811. 

MOSELEY,  JOHN.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
1783. 

MOTT,  JACOB  S.  After  the  war,  he  was  King's  Printer  for 
New  Brunswick.  He  died  at  St.  John,  1814,  aged  forty-one. 

MOTT.     Eleven   persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  477 

New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Richard,  Jacob  junior,  Sylvester,  Jackson,  Adam  senior,  John, 
Adam,  Samuel,  Samuel  the  3d,  Jacob,  and  Noah  junior.  In 
1780,  Joseph  and  John  Mott,  of  Queen's  County,  assisted  in 
the  capture  of  the  Whig  privateer  Revenue.  During  the  war, 
William  Mott,  of  Great.  Neck,  was  robbed  and  much  beaten ; 
and  Adam  Mott,  (father  of  Samuel,)  of  Cow  Neck,  was  also 
visited  by  a  party  of  marauders ;  both  of  these  Motts  were 
known  as  prominent  Loyalists. 

MOUNT,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  removed  to  Lan 
caster,  New  Brunswick,  but  died  while  at  St.  John,  1819, 
aged  fifty-seven. 

MUIR,  GEORGE.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England.  He  was 
an  Addresser  of  the  king  in  1779. 

MULBALL,  EDWARD.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  He  em 
barked  at  Boston  for  Halifax,  with  the  British  army,  in 
1776. 

MULCARTY,  PATRICK.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston,  with 
the  British  army,  for  Halifax. 

MULLENS,  THOMAS.  Blacksmith,  of  Leominster,  Massachu 
setts.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  A  Loyalist  of 
this  name  was  a  grantee  of,  and  died  at,  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1799,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four ;  and  administration 
was  granted  on  his  estate  the  following  year. 

MUNCREEF,  RICHARD.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

MUNDAY,  NATHANIEL.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers.  He  was  in  New  Brunswick  after  the  Revo 
lution,  and  received  half-pay;  but  left  that  Colony,  and,  as  it 
is  believed,  went  to  Canada. 

MUNGER,  SIMEON.  Of  Reading.  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

MUNN,  ALEXANDER.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

MUNRO,  HENRY.  Was  a  captain  in  the  Second  American 
Regiment. 


478  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

MUNRO,  DUNCAN.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

MUNRO, .     In  1782  was  a  major  in  the  North  Carolina 

Highland  Regiment. 

MUNRO.  Among  others  of  the  name,  John  was  a  grantee  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick ;  Alexander  died  in  that  city,  1828, 
aged  seventy-four ;  and  Hugh  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick 
in  1783,  became  a  magistrate  and  member  of  the  House  of 
Assembly  for  the  County  of  Northumberland,  and  died  in  the 
County  of  Gloucester  in  1846. 

MUNSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association  of  Loyalists. 

MURELL,  JOSEPH.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  tried  in  1778, 
on  the  charges  of  giving  intelligence,  and  of  acting  as  a  guide 
to  the  enemy.  He  was  convicted  of  the  latter,  and  sentenced 
to  immediate  death.  His  execution  was  subsequently  post 
poned,  and  probably  he  finally  escaped  the  penalty. 

MURPHY,  GARRET.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Loyalty  in  1775. 

MURRAY,  DANIEL.  Of  Brookfield,  Massachusetts.  Son  of 
Colonel  John  Murray.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1771.  In  July,  1775,  he  applied  to  Washington  for  leave  for 
his  sister  and  two  of  his  brothers  to  go  into  Boston.  The 
Commander-in-chief,  unacquainted  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  referred  the  subject  to  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and 
that  body  laid  the  application  before  the  Provincial  Con 
gress,  when  the  request  was  refused.  Mr.  Murray  subsequently 
entered  the  military  service  of  the  crown,  and  was  major  of 
the  King's  American  Dragoons.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed 
and  banished.  At  .the  peace,  he  retired  on  half-pay.  In  1792 
he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  New  Bruns 
wick.  In  1803  he  left  that  Colony  in  embarrassed  circum 
stances.  He  died  at  Portland,  Maine,  in  1832. 

MURRAY,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Gage 
in  1775  ;  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  I  suppose  he  was  an  officer  of  the  cus 
toms. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  479 

MURRAY,  JOHN.  Of  Rutland,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
colonel  in  the  militia,  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Gen 
eral  Court,  and  in  1774  was  appointed  a  Mandamus  Councillor, 
but  was  not  sworn  into  office.  He  abandoned  his  house  on 
the  night  of  the  25th  of  August  of  that  year,  and  fled  to  Bos 
ton.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax.  In 
1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished  ;  and  in  1779,  he  lost  his 
extensive  estates  under  the  conspiracy  act.  After  the  Revolu 
tion,  Colonel  Murray  became  a  resident  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick.  He  built  a  house  in  Prince  William  street,  which  (1846) 
is  still  standing.  The  lot  attached  to  this  dwelling  is  very 
large,  and  the  market  value  at  the  present  time  is,  perhaps, 
£4,000.  A  part  of  it  is  owned  by  Chief  Justice  Chipman,  and 
is  rented  to  a  horticulturist,  who  raises  flowers  for  sale.  The 
Honorable  R.  L.  Hazen  of  St.  John,  a  member  of  the  Execu 
tive  Council  of  New  Brunswick,  and  a  grandson  of  Colonel 
Murray,  has  his  portrait,  by  Copley.  He  is  represented  as 
sitting,  and  in  the  full  dress  of  a  gentleman  of  the  day ;  and 
his  person  is  shown  to  the  knees.  There  is  a  hole  in  the 
wig  —  and  the  tradition  in  the  family  is,  that  a  party  who 
sought  the  Colonel  at  his  house  after  his  flight,  vexed  because 
he  had  eluded  them,  vowed  they  would  leave  their  mark 
behind  them  j  and  accordingly  pierced  the  canvass  with  a  bay 
onet. 

The  descendants  of  Colonel  Murray  in  New  Brunswick, 
have  also  several  relics  of  the  olden  time,  not  destitute  of 
interest.  Among  them  are  articles  of  silver-plate  of  a  by-gone 
fashion,  books  of  accounts,  business  memoranda,  muster  rolls, 
or  list  of  officers  of  the  regiment  which  he  commanded,  deeds 
of  his  estates,  &c.  Of  the  latter,  there  are  no  less  than 
twenty-two  of  his  lands  in  Rutland,  and  several  of  property  in 
Athol.  One  of  the  deeds  is  stamped,  but  it  bears  date  some 
years  previous  to  the  passage  of  the  odious  stamp-act.  The 
manner  in  which  Colonel  Murray  kept  his  books  and  papers, 
shows  that  he  was  a  careful,  calculating,  and  exact  man  in  his 
transactions  —  method  is  seen  in  everything.  In  person,  he 
was  about  six  feet  three  inches  high,  and  well  proportioned. 


480  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

In  Massachusetts  he  was  a  principal  man  in  his  section,  and 
one  of  the  country  gentlemen  or  colonial  noblemen,  who  lived 
upon  their  estates  in  a  style  which  has  passed  away.  The 
wife  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  Bliss,  and  the  first  wife  of  the 
Honorable  Joshua  Upham  —  Loyalists  mentioned  in  these 
pages  —  were  his  daughters. 

MURRAY,  JOHN.  Son  of  Colonel  John  Murray.  In  1782  he 
was  a  captain  in  the  King's  American  Dragoons.  After  the 
Revolution,  he  was  an  officer  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Regiment, 
British  army. 

MURRAY,  LINDLEY.  Of  New  York.  The  celebrated  Gram 
marian.  He  was  born  near  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  in  1745, 
of  Quaker  parents.  His  father,  from  owning  a  flour  mill, 
became  one  of  the  most  respectable  merchants  of  America, 
and  in  1753  settled  at  New  York.  Lindley  desired  to  study 
law,  but  his  wish  was  opposed,  and  he  entered  his  father's 
counting  room,  and  commenced  preparing  himself  for  com 
mercial  life.  But  mercantile  pursuits  proved  so  disagreeable, 
that  he  appealed  to  his  father  a  second  time,  to  be  allowed  to 
adopt  the  profession  of  the  law.  The  parent  yielded,  and  he 
was  placed  in  the  office  of  Benjamin  Kissam,  Esquire,  where 
for  about  two  years  he  was  the  fellow  student  of  the  illus 
trious  John  Jay.  After  four  years'  study,  he  was  called  to 
the  bar,  and  met  with  success  ;  but  his  practice  was  interrupt 
ed  by  a  voyage  to  England  on  account  of  his  father's  affairs 
and  health.  In  1771  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  resumed 
the  law.  His  business  was  very  successful,  and  continued  to 
increase,  until  the  revolutionary  controversy  reached  a  crisis. 
He  was  in  a  feeble  state  of  health  at  the  time  of  the  suspen 
sion  of  proceedings  in  the  courts,  and  retired  from  the  city 
to  Long  Island,  where  he  made  preparations  at  a  considerable 
expense,  to  begin  the  manufacture  of  salt;  but  Long  Island 
soon  after  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  royal  army,  and  the 
enterprise  was  abandoned,  as  salt  could  then  be  freely  imported 
from  England.  Dissatisfied  at  length  with  his  inactive  life, 
and  desirous  to  make  provision  for  his  family,  he  returned  to 
the  city,  which  was  also  occupied  by  the  British  troops,  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 

embarked  in  commerce.  He  continued  in  New  York  until 
about  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  and  accumulated  an  ample 
fortune.  Retiring  from  business,  he  purchased  a  country  seat 
at  Bellevue,  three  miles  from  the  city,  where  he  remained  until 
near  the  close  of  1784,  when  he  embarked  for  England.  His 
attachment  to  the  home  of  his  fathers,  he  said,  "was  founded 
on  many  pleasing  associations.  In  particular,  I  had  strong 
prepossessions  in  favor  of  a  residence  in  England,  because  I  was 
ever  partial  to  its  political  constitution,  and  the  mildness  and 
wisdom  of  its  general  system  of  laws."  *  *  *  *  "On 
leaving  my  native  country,  there  was  not,  therefore,  any  land 
on  which  I  could  cast  my  eyes  with  so  much  pleasure ;  nor  is 
there  any  which  could  have  afforded  me  so  much  real  sat 
isfaction,  as  I  have  found  in  Great  Britain.  May  its  politi 
cal  fabric,  which  has  stood  the  test  of  ages,  and  long  attracted 
the  admiration  of  the  world,  be  supported  and  perpetuated  by 
Divine  Providence." 

He  established  his  residence  at  Holdgate,  near  the  city  of 
York.  In  1787  he  published  his  first  work,  —  The  Power  of 
Religion  on  the  Mind,  — which  met  with  favor.  Having  been 
often  solicited  to  compose  a  Grammar  of  the  English  Language, 
he  finally  consented  to  undertake  the  task;  and  in  1795,  gave 
the  world  the  fruit  of  his  labors.  A  second  edition  was  immedi 
ately  called  for,  and  Murray's  Grammar  soon  became  a  stand 
ard  work.  Encouraged  to  continue  his  literary  career,  he 
composed  his  Exercises,  and  Key,  and  published  both  in  1797 : 
and  in  the  same  year  he  made  an  Abridgment  of  the  Grammar. 
His  English  Reader,  the  Introduction,  and  the  Sequel,  soon 
followed,  as  did  his  Spelling  Book.  For  these  publications,  he 
was  liberally  paid  by  the  booksellers  of  London,  to  whom  he 
sold  the  copyrights.  From  1809  until  his  decease,  a  period  of 
more  than  sixteen  years,  he  was  wholly  confined  to  his  house, 
except  that  during  this  time  he  took  an  occasional  airing. 
His  physical  debility  was  very  great,  and  for  years  his  infirmi 
ties  did  not  allow  him  to  rise  from  his  seat.  His  mental  pow 
ers  were,  in  a  good  measure,  unimpaired  to  the  last.  He  died 
in  1826,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  He  was  an  excel- 
41 


482  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

lent  man.  "  His  life  and  death  were  blessed,  and  his  memory  is 
blessed."  "His  literary  works  and  his  good  deeds  are  a 
lasting  memorial  of  him."  His  integrity  and  truthfulness 
were  unimpeachable.  His  benevolence  was  universal.  He 
was  hospitable  and  generous,  mild,  affectionate,  and  kind.  In 
a  word,  he  was  a  true  Christian.  In  person  he  was  tall  and 
stout.  His  appearance  was  prepossessing,  his  features  regular, 
his  manners  and  address  courteous.  "  Some  have  said  after 
their  first  introduction  to  him,  that  his  aspect  and  demeanor, 
together  with  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  his  character,  recalled 
to  their  minds  the  idea  of  the  apostles  and  other  holy  men"  of 
the  early  ages  of  Christianity.  Mr.  Murray  was  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Quakers,  or  Friends ;  and  his  remains  were 
interred  at  York,  in  the  burying-ground  of  that  communion. 
His  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  upwards  of  fifty-eight  years, 
survived  him. 

MURRAY,  ROBERT.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  the 
King's  American  Dragoons.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  died  there  of  consumption.  He  received  half-pay. 

MURRAY,  SAMUEL.  Son  of  Colonel  John  Murray,  of  Rutland, 
Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1772. 
He  was  with  the  British  troops  at  Lexington  in  1775,  and  was 
taken  prisoner.  In  a  General  Order,  dated  at  Cambridge, 
June  15,  1775,  it  was  directed;  "That  Samuel  Murray  be 
removed  from  jail  in  Worcester  to  his  father's  homestead 
in  Rutland,  the  limits  of  which  he  is  not  to  pass  until  further 
orders."  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  died 
previous  to  1785. 

MURRAY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Massachusetts.  Embarked  for  Hal 
ifax  with  the  royal  army  in  1776. 

MURRAY.  Residence  unknown.  Several  Loyalists  of  the 
name  of  Murray,  beside  the  sons  of  Colonel  John,  were  in  the 
royal  service.  Thus,  John  was  a  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the 
South  Carolina  Royalists ;  Thomas,  Edward,  and  James, 
were  officers  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's  Rangers ;  and  another 
Thomas,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion.  And 
in  South  Carolina,  Patrick  Muckle  Murray  was  in  commission 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  483 

under  the  crown,  and  lost  his  estate  in  1782  under  the  confis 
cation  act. 

MuRRELL,  ROBERT.  Of  South  Carolina.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

MUSGROVE,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  in  commis 
sion  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

NASE,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  He  joined  the  royal  army 
at  King's  Bridge  in  1776,  and  served  six  years  in  the  Loyalist 
corps  called  the  King's  American  Regiment.  In  1783  he  set 
tled  in  New  Brunswick ;  was  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  militia, 
and  filled  several  civil  offices.  He  died  in  King's  County, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1836,  aged  eighty-four.  Before  entering 
the  service  of  the  crown,  his  loyalty  involved  him  in  much 
trouble  with  his  Whig  neighbors;  and  he  was  a  great  sufferer 
by  the  events,  which  made  his  country  free  —  but  himself  an 
exile. 

NASH,  RICHARD.  Was  seized  at  Long  Island,  New  York,  in 
1775,  sent  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the  limits  of 
the  town  of  Brookfield. 

NEALIE,  CHRISTOPHER.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal 
commission  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

NELSON,  ROBERT.  Of  North  Carolina.  Went  to  England. 
He  was  in  London  July,  1779,  and  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of 
the  king. 

NELSON,  THEOPHILUS.  Of  New  York.  He  was  included  in 
the  disfranchising  act  of  that  State  of  1784,  but  by  an  act  of 
1786,  was  restored  to  his  civil  rights,  on  his  taking  the  oath  of 
abjuration  and  allegiance. 

NERVCOB,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

NESS,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Prince  of 
Wales's  American  Volunteers,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps. 

NEWBERRY, .  A  Tory  sergeant  in  the  British  service. 

In  1778,  the  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Mitchell  of  Cherry  Valley,  a 


484  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

little  girl  of  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  in  the  massacre  of  the 
family  by  the  Indians,  was  left  alive,  though  wounded  and 
much  mangled.  Newberry,  by  a  blow  of  his  hatchet,  put  an 
end  to  her  life.  He  fell  into  the  hands  of  General  James  Clin 
ton,  at  Canajoharie,  the  next  year,  and  was  executed. 

NEWBLE,  JAMES.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1821 , 
aged  ninety-four  years. 

NICHOLS,  WIDOW  RUTH.  Of  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  In  the 
spring  of  1783  she  and  her  two  children  arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union. 

NICHOLSON,  ARTHUR.  A  cornet  in  the  King's  American 
Dragoons,  and  adjutant  of  the  corps.  He  settled  in  New 
Brunswick  ;  received  half-pay;  and  died  in  that  Colony. 

NISBETT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

NIXON,  ROBERT.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
required  him  to  surrender  himself  for  trial,  on  pain  of  standing 
attainted. 

NOBLE,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

NOBLE,  FRANCIS.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  A  Loyalist  of  this  name  settled 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  a  grantee  of 
that  city. 

NODES,  THOMAS.  Cordwainer,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware.  In 
1778  it  was  declared  by  statute,  that  his  property,  both  real 
and  personal,  would  become  absolutely  forfeited  to  the  State, 
unless  he  should  surrender  and  abide  trial  for  treason. 

NORRICE,  HENRY.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  tried  in  1778,  on 
a  charge  of  supplying  the  royal  forces  with  provisions,  and 
found  guilty.  He  was  sentenced  to  confinement  and  to  hard 
labor  for  one  month  ;  and  in  addition,  to  the  payment  of  fifty 
pounds  for  the  use  of  the  sick  of  the  Whig  camp. 

NORTH,  CAPTAIN  JOSHUA.  Of  Brandywine,  Delaware.  In 
1778  it  was  declared  by  law,  that,  on  failing  to  appear  to 
answer  to  the  charge  of  treason  on  or  before  August  1,  his 
estate  should  be  confiscated. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  485 

NORTHRUP,  BENAJAH.  Of  Connecticut.  Settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  died  at  Kingston,  King's  County,  in  1838, 
aged  eighty-eight,  leaving  fourteen  children,  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  grandchildren,  and  one  hundred  and  eleven  great 
grandchildren. 

NORTON,  ASA.  A  physician,  of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association. 

NOSTRAND,  GEORGE.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Ac 
knowledged  allegiance  October,  1776.  John  and  Garret  Nor- 
strant,  of  the  same  County,  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty 
the  year  before. 

NOSTRANDT.  Eleven  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance  October,  1776. 
To  wit :  Daniel,  Peter,  Garret  junior,  Frederick,  Jacob,  Peter, 
Garret,  Daniel,  Garret,  Peter  junior,  and  John. 

NUGENT,  JOHN.  An  officer  in  the  Superintendent  Department 
established  at  New  York. 

NUTTING,  JOHN.  Carpenter,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

NUTTING,  JOSEPH.  He  was  collector  of  taxes  of  the  city  of 
St.  John,  and  died  there  in  1826,  aged  sixty-eight. 

OAKLY,  DAVID.  A  magistrate,  of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

OBMAN,  JACOB.     A  lieutenant  in  the  Georgia  Loyalists. 

ODELL,  REVEREND  JONATHAN.  An  Episcopal  clergyman.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College.  During  the  Revolution  he 
was  chaplain  of  a  Loyalist  corps.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  annals  of 
that  Colony,  as  the  "  Honorable  and  Reverend  Jonathan 
Odell."  He  was  the  first  Secretary  of  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  Register  and  Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  had  a  seat  as 
Councillor.  He  died  in  1818.  His  daughter  Lucy  Ann,  wife 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Rudyerd,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  died 
at  Halifax  in  1829.  His  widow,  Anne,  died  at  Fredericton 
in  1825,  aged  eighty-five ;  and  his  son,  the  Honorable  William 
Odell,  who  was  his  successor  as  secretary,  and  held  the  office 
41* 


486  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

for  thirty-two  years,  died  at  Fredericton  in  1844,  at  the  age  of 
seventy. 

ODELL.  WILLIAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains.  Abraham  Odell,  of  that  County, 
was  also  a  Protester. 

OGDEN,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains.  Benjamin  Ogden,  Esquire,  Justice 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  died  at  Antigonish,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1835. 

OGDEN,  DAVID.  He  was  principal  clerk  of  the  post-office  de 
partment  of  the  Colonies,  and  was  considered  to  be  in  office  in 
1782  —  certainly —  and  probably  until  the  peace. 

OGDEN,  DAVID.  A  member  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  and  a 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey.  After  Galloway, 
the  celebrated  Loyalist  of  Pennsylvania,  retired  to  England, 
Ogden  was  a  correspondent,  and  his  letters  betray  much  bitter 
ness  of  feeling.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Refugees 
or  Loyalists  established  at  New  York  in  1779,  and  composed 
of  delegates  from  the  several  Colonies.  He  devised  the  out 
lines  of  a  plan  for  the  government  of  America  after  her  sub 
mission  to  Great  Britain,  an  event  which  he  deemed  "  certain 
and  soon  to  happen,  if  proper  measures  were  not  neglected." 
That  plan  is  curious  in  many  respects,  and  is  here  inserted. 
It  proposed,  —  "  That  the  right  of  taxation  of  America  by  the 
British  parliament  be  given  up.  That  the  several  Colonies 
be  restored  to  their  former  constitutions  and  forms  of  govern 
ment,  except  in  the  instances  after  mentioned.  That  each 
Colony  have  a  Governor  and  Council  appointed  by  the  crown, 
and  a  House  of  Representatives  to  be  elected  by  the  free 
holders,  inhabitants  of  the  several  Counties,  not  more  than 
forty,  nor  less  than  thirty  for  a  Colony,  who  shall  have  power 
to  make  all  necessary  laws  for  the  internal  government  and 
benefit  of  each  respective  Colony,  that  are  not  repugnant  or 
contradictory  to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain,  or  the  laws  of  the 
American  parliament,  made  and  enacted  to  be  in  force  in  the 
Colonies  for  the  government,  utility,  and  safety  of  the  whole. 
That  an  American  parliament  be  established  for  all  the  Eng- 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  487 

lish  Colonies  on  the  continent,  to  consist  of  a  lord  Iieutenant3 
barons  (to  be  created  for  the  purpose)  not  to  exceed,  at  present, 
more  than  twelve,  nor  less  than  eight  from  each  Colony,  to  be 
appointed  by  his  majesty  out  of  the  freeholders,  and  inhabi 
tants  of  each  Colony ;  a  House  of  Commons,  not  to  exceed 
twelve,  nor  less  than  eight  from  each  Colony,  to  be  elected  by 
the  respective  Houses  of  Representatives  for  each  Colony, 
which  parliament,  so  constituted,  to  be  three  branches  of  legis 
lature  of  the  Northern  Colonies,  and  to  be  styled  and  called 
the  Lord  Lieutenant,  the  Lords,  and  Commons  of  the  British 
Colonies  in  North  America.  That  they  have  the  power  of 
enacting  laws  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  for  the  general  good, 
benefit,  and  security  of  the  Colonies,  and  for  their  mutual 
safety,  both  defensive,  and  offensive,  against  the  king's  ene 
mies,  rebels,  &c. ;  proportioning  the  taxes  to  be  raised  in  such 
cases  by  each  Colony.  The  mode  for  raising  the  same  to  be 
enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  each  Colony,  which,  if 
refused  or  neglected,  be  directed  and  prescribed  by  the  North 
American  parliament,  with  power  to  levy  the  same.  That 
the  laws  of  the  American  parliament  shall  be  in  force  till 
repealed  by  his  majesty  in  Council ;  and  the  laws  to  the  sev 
eral  legislatures  of  the  respective  Colonies  to  be  in  force  till  the 
same  be  repealed  by  his  majesty,  or  made  void  by  an  act  and 
law  of  the  American  parliament.  That  the  American  parlia 
ment  have  the  superintendence  and  government  of  the  several 
colleges  in  North  America,  most  of  which  have  been  the 
grand  nurseries  of  the  late  rebellion,  instilling  into  the  tender 
minds  of  youth  principles  favorable  to  republican,  and  against 
a  monarchical  government,  and  other  doctrines  incompatible 
to  the  British  constitution."  Mr.  Ogden  went  to  England,  and 
was  agent  of  the  New  Jersey  Loyalists  for  prosecuting  their 
claims  to  compensation  for  losses.  He  was  in  London  in 
1788. 

OGDEN,  ISAAC.  Barrister  at  law,  New  York.  Was  also  a 
correspondent  of  Galloway. 

OGDEN,  JONATHAN.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and 
died  at  Greenwich,  King's  County,  November,  1845,  aged 


488  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ninety-seven.  Mary,  his  widow,  died  at  the  same  place, 
August,  1846,  aged  eighty-one.  "  They  were  both  among  the 
faithful  and  intrepid  band  of  Loyalists,  who,  for  their  unshaken 
attachment  to  the  Throne  and  Constitution  of  Great  Britain, 
suffered  much  in  their  early  days." 

OGDEN,  PETER.  Of  New  York.  Was  secretary  of  the  police 
department  of  the  city,  in  1782. 

OGDEN,  ROBERT.  Of  New  Jersey.  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Assembly.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress, 
so  called,  and  refused  to  sanction  the  proceedings  of  the  major 
ity.  An  attempt  was  made  at  his  instance  to  conceal  his  de 
fection,  but  without  success.  He  was  accordingly  burned  in 
effigy  in  several  places  in  New  Jersey,  and  was  removed 
from  the  Speaker's  chair  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Assembly. 

OGDEN, .  Of  New  Jersey.  When,  in  1781,  a  considera 
ble  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  line  became  discontented,  he 
acted  as  the  guide  of  the  emissary  who  was  sent  by  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  to  seduce  them.  Instead  of  meeting  the  overture,  they 
surrendered  Ogden  and  his  associate  to  General  Wayne ;  and 
January  10th,  both  were  tried  as  spies,  convicted,  and  subse 
quently  executed. 

OGILVIE,  CHARLES.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commis 
sion  under  the  crown  after  the  fall  of  Charleston.  His  prop 
erty  was  confiscated. 

OGILVIE,  DAVID.  A  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Le 
gion. 

OGILVIE,  GEORGE.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Ogilvie.  Was  an  officer  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists. 

OGILVIE,  J.,  D.  D.  An  Episcopal  clergyman  of  New  York. 
He  succeeded  Doctor  Barclay  as  missionary  to  the  Mohawk 
Indians,  and  was  again  his  successor  as  rector  of  Trinity 
Church  at  his  decease,  in  1765.  One  who  knew  him  while  he 
was  stationed  among  the  Mohawks,  thus  speaks :  "  His  ap 
pearance  was  singularly  prepossessing ;  his  address  and  man 
ners  entirely  those  of  a  gentleman.  His  abilities  were  respect 
able,  his  doctrine  was  pure  and  scriptural,  and  his  life 
exemplary,  both  as  a  clergyman  and  in  his  domestic  circle, 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  4S9 

where  he  was  peculiarly  amiable  ;  add  to  all  this  a  talent  for 
conversation,  extensive  reading,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
life."  He  died  in  New  York  in  1774. 

O'HALA,  DENNIS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

O'HALLAM,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Caro 
lina. 

OLDFIELD,  JOSEPH.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
the  Declaration  in  1775. 

OLDHAM,  THOMAS.  Of  Chowan,  North  Carolina.  His  pro 
perty  was  confiscated  in  1779.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly ;  and  seems  at  first  to  have  been  with  the 
Whigs,  since  he  had  a  seat  in  the  Convention  which  approved 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  which 
Governor  Martin  denounced  by  proclamation. 

OLDING,  NICHOLAS  PURDIE.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion,  and  a  deputy  muster  master 
general  of  the  Loyalist  forces. 

OLIPHANT,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

OLIVE,  WILLIAM.  A  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery,  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1795.  He  died  at  Carlton,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1822. 

OLIVER,  ANDREW.  Of  Massachusetts.  His  father  was  the 
Honorable  Daniel  Oliver,  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  he 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1724.  He  entered  public 
life,  and  was  Secretary,  Stamp-distributer  and  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  Massachusetts.  In  1765,  soon  after  receiving 
the  appointment  of  stamp-officer,  the  building  which  he  had 
fitted  for  the  transaction  of  business  was  demolished  by  a  mob, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  resign.  He  was  then  allowed  to 
enjoy  his  post  of  secretary  without  molestation  for  several 
months.  But  before  the  close  of  the  year,  a  report  that  he  was 
seeking  to  be  restored  to  his  place  of  stamp-officer,  obtained 
circulation,  and  he  was  required  to  make  a  public  statement 
upon  the  subject.  He  complied  with  the  demand,  and  pub 
lished  a  declaration,  that  he  would  not  act  under  his  commis- 


490  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

sion ;  but  this  was  deemed  unsatisfactory,  and  he  was  desired 
to  appear  under  the  Liberty  Tree,  and  there  resign  the  office 
in  form,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  people.  With  this  demand 
he  also  complied,  and  at  the  proper  time,  and  while  two 
thousand  persons  surrounded  him,  he  made  oath  to  the  fol 
lowing  declaration ; —  "That  he  had  never  taken  any  mea 
sures,  in  consequence  of  his  deputation,  to  act  in  his  office  as 
distributer  of  stamps,  and  that  he  never  would,  directly  or 
indirectly,  by  himself,  or  any  under  him,  make  use  of  his 
deputation,  or  take  any  measures  for  enforcing  the  stamp-act 
in  America."  The  multitude  gave  three  cheers,  and  allowed 
him  to  depart.  But  so  determined  a  course  on  the  part  of  the 
Whigs  gave  him  great  pain,  and  caused  intense  suffering  both 
to  himself  and  his  family. 

In  1770,  Mr.  Oliver  was  appointed  Lieutenant  Governor.  In 
1773,  several  letters  which  he  had  written  to  persons  in  Eng 
land  were  obtained  by  Franklin,  and  sent  to  Massachusetts. 
These  letters  caused  much  excitement,  and  became  the  subject 
of  discussion  throughout  the  Colony.  The  Whigs  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  agreed  upon  a  report,  that  the  man 
ifest  tendency  and  design  of  these  and  other  similar  commu 
nications  of  Hutchinson,  Paxton,  Moffat,  Auchmuty,  Rogers, 
and  Rome,  was  to  overthrow  the  constitution,  and  introduce 
arbitrary  power.  In  addition  to  the  assaults  at  home,  Junius 
Americanus,  a  writer  in  the  public  papers  in  England,  charged 
him  with  the  grave  crime  of  perjury.  Mr.  Oliver  was  now 
advanced  in  life.  He  had  always  been  subject  to  disorders  of 
a  bilious  nature ;  and  unable  to  endure  the  disquiet  and  mis 
ery  caused  by  his  position  in  affairs  at  so  troubled  a  period, 
soon  sunk  under  the  burthen.  After  a  short  illness,  he  died 
at  Boston  in  March,  1774,  aged  sixty-seven.  In  private  life,  he 
was  a  most  estimable  man  ;  but  his  public  career,  though  earn 
estly  defended  by  his  brother-in-law,  Governor  Hutchinson,  is 
open  to  severe  censure.  That  he  was  "  hungry  for  office  and 
honor,"  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt.  No  man  in  Massa 
chusetts  was  more  unpopular ;  and  Hutchinson  remarks,  that 
the  violence  of  party  spirit  was  evinced  even  at  his  funeral ; 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


491 


that  some  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were 
offended  because  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  had  pre 
cedence  in  the  procession,  and  retired  in  a  body;  and  that 
"  marks  of  disrespect  were  also  shown  by  the  populace  to  the 
remains  of  a  man,  whose  memory,  if  he  had  died  before  this 
violent  spirit  was  raised,  would  have  been  revered  by  all  orders 
and  degrees  of  men  in  the  province." 

OLIVER,  BRINLEY  SYLVESTER.  A  son  of  Lieutenant  Governor 
Andrew  Oliver,  of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1774,  and  became  a  surgeon  in  the  British 
service. 

OLIVER,  JAMES.  Of  Conway,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

OLIVER,  PETER.  Of  Salem.  Son  of  Lieutenant  Governor 
Andrew  Oliver,  of  Massachusetts,  who  died  at  Boston,  March, 
1774;  became  a  surgeon  in  the  British  army,  and  died  in 
London,  April,  1795.  His  widow  married  Admiral  Sir  John 
Knight,  and  died  at  her  seat  near  London  in  1839.  Doctor 
Oliver  was  one  of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  ad 
dressed  Gage  on  his  departure  in  1775,  and  was  proscribed 
under  the  act  of  1778. 

OLIVER,  PETER.  He  was  born  in  1713,  and  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1730.  Though  not  educated  a 
lawyer,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts  in 
1756  ;  and  in  McFingal  it  is  asked, 

"  Did  heaven  appoint  our  chief  judge  Oliver, 
Fill  that  high  bench  with  ignoramus, 
Or  has  it  councils  by  mandamus  ?  " 

Judge  Oliver  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his  estate 
was  confiscated.  In  addition  to  his  judicial  station  he  was  a 
Mandamus  Councillor.  He  went  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation 
of  Boston  in  1776.  Subsequently  he  embarked  for  England. 
Of  the  five  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Massachusetts  at 
the  revolutionary  era,  four,  to  wit,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  Ed 
mund  Trowbridge,  Foster  Hutchinson,  and  William  Browne, 
were  Loyalists.  The  Whig  member  of  the  Court  was  William 


492 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


Gushing.  In  1774,  Oliver  was  impeached  by  the  legislature 
for  refusing  to  receive,  as  usual,  a  grant  for  his  services  from 
the  Colonial  treasury,  and  hecause  he  would  not  engage  to 
accept  of  no  emolument  from  the  crown.  Judges  at  this  time 
wore  swords,  robes,  &c.  while  on  the  bench.  He  died  in 
England  in  1791. 

OLIVER,  PETER,  Junior.  Son  of  Chief  Justice  Peter  Oli 
ver,  of  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1761,  and  died  at  Shrewsbury,  England,  September,  1822, 
aged  eighty-one  years.  He  was  one  of  the  eighteen  country 
gentlemen  who  were  driven  from  their  habitations  in  the  coun 
try  to  Boston ;  and  who  addressed  Gage  on  his  departure  in 
1775.  He  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778,  and  is  styled 
of  Middleborough,  and  a  physician. 

OLIVER,  THOMAS.  Of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  Was  born 
in  Dorchester,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1753. 
He  lived  in  great  retirement,  and  mingled  but  little  in  public 
affairs.  But  after  the  decease  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Andrew 
Oliver,  of  a  different  family,  in  1774,  he  was  appointed  his  suc 
cessor,  and  was  the  last  royal  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  Presi 
dent  of  the  Council  of  Massachusetts.  As  his  appointment  as 
Councillor  was  by  the  king's  writ  of  mandamus,  and  contrary  to 
the  charter,  which  provided  for  the  election  of  members  of  the 
Council,  he  became  an  object  of  popular  resentment.  He  de 
tailed  the  course  pursued  against  him,  in  consequence  of  being 
sworn  into  office,  in  the  following  narrative,  dated  September  7, 
1774,  which,  as  giving  his  version,  and  as  throwing  light  on 
the  transactions  of  the  times,  is  inserted  entire.  It  is  an  answer 
to  the  Whig  account  of  the  occurrences  at  Cambridge  on  the 
2d  of  September,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  is  very  full  and  explicit. 

"Early  in  the  morning"  (of  September  2d),  said  he,  "a 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Charlestown  called  at  my  house 
to  acquaint  me  that  a  large  body  of  people  from  several  towns 
in  the  County  were  on  their  way  coming  down  to  Cambridge  ; 
that  they  were  afraid  some  bad  consequences  might  ensue, 
and  begged  I  would  go  out  to  meet  them,  and  endeavor  to 
prevail  on  them  to  return.  In  a  very  short  time,  before  I  could 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  493 

prepare  myself  to  go,  they  appeared  in  sight.  I  went  out  to 
them,  and  asked  the  reasons  of  their  appearance  in  that  man 
ner  ;  they  respectfully  answered,  they  '  came  peaceably  to 
inquire  into  their  grievances,  not  with  design  to  hurt  any 
man.'  I  perceived  they  were  landholders  of  the  neighboring 
towns,  and  was  thoroughly  persuaded  they  would  do  no  harm. 
I  was  desired  to  speak  to  them ;  I  accordingly  did,  in  such  a 
manner  as  I  thought  best  calculated  to  quiet  their  minds. 
They  thanked  me  for  my  advice,  said  they  were  no  mob,  but 
sober,  orderly  people,  who  would  commit  no  disorders;  and  then 
proceeded  on  their  way.  I  returned  to  my  house.  Soon  after 
they  had  arrived  on  the  Common  at  Cambridge,  a  -report  arose 
that  the  troops  were  on  their  march  from  Boston ;  I  was  de 
sired  to  go  and  intercede  with  his  Excellency  to  prevent  their 
coming.  From  principles  of  humanity  to  the  country,  from  a 
general  love  of  mankind,  and  from  persuasions  that  they  were 
orderly  people,  I  readily  undertook  it ;  and  is  there  a  man  on 
earth,  who,  placed  in  my  circumstances,  could  have  refused 
it?  I  am  informed  I  am  censured  for  having  advised  the 
General  to  a  measure  which  may  reflect  on  the  troops,  as  being 
too  inactive  upon  such  a  general  disturbance ;  but  surely  such 
a  reflection  on  a  military  man  can  never  arise  but  in  the  minds 
of  such  as  are  entirely  ignorant  of  these  circumstances. 
Wherever  this  affair  is  known,  it  must  also  be  known  it  was 
my  request  the  troops  should  not  be  sent,  but  to  return  ;  as  I 
passed  the  people  I  told  them,  of  my  own  accord,  I  would 
return  and  let  them  know  the  event  of  my  application  (not. 
as  was  related  in  the  papers,  to  confer  with  them  on  my  own 
circumstances  as  President  of  the  Council).  On  my  return  I 
went  to  the  Committee,  I  told  them  no  troops  had  been  ordered, 
and  from  the  account  I  had  given  his  Excellency,  none  would 
be  ordered.  I  was  then  thanked  for  the  trouble  I  had  taken 
in  the  affair,  and  was  just  about  to  leave  them  to  their  own 
business,  when  one  of  the  Committee  observed,  that  as  I  was 
present,  it  might  be  proper  to  mention  a  matter  they  had  to 
propose  to  me.  It  was,  that  although  they  had  a  respect  for 
me  as  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Province,  they  could  wish  I 
42 


494  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Avould  resign  my  seat.  I  told  them  I  took  it  very  unkind  that 
they  should  mention  anything  on  that  subject;  and  among 
other  reasons  I  urged,  that,  as  Lieutenant  Governor,  I  stood  in 
a  particular  relation  to  the  Province  in  general,  and  therefore 
could  not  hear  any  thing  upon  that  matter  from  a  particular 
County.  I  was  then  pushed  to  know,  if  I  would  resign  when 
it  appeared  to  be  the  sense  of  the  Province  in  general ;  I  an 
swered,  that  when  all  the  other  Councillors  had  resigned,  if  it 
appeared  to  be  the  sense  of  the  Province  I  should  resign,  I 
would  submit.  They  then  called  for  a  vote  upon  the  subject, 
and,  by  a  very  great  majority,  voted  my  reasons  satisfactory. 
I  inquired  whether  they  had  full  power  to  act  for  the  people, 
and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  I  desired  they  would 
take  care  to  acquaint  them  of  their  votes,  that  I  should  have 
no  further  application  made  to  me  on  that  head.  I  was  prom 
ised  by  the  Chairman,  and  a  general  assent,  it  should  be  so. 
This  left  me  entirely  clear  and  free  from  any  apprehensions 
of  a  farther  application  upon  this  matter,  and  perhaps  will 
account  for  that  confidence  which  I  had  in  the  people,  and  for 
which  I  may  be  censured.  Indeed,  it  is  true,  the  event  proves 
I  had  too  much,  but  reasoning  from  events  yet  to  come,  is  a 
kind  of  reasoning  I  have  not  been  used  to.  In  the  afternoon  I 
observed  large  companies  pouring  in  from  different  parts ;  I 
then  began  to  apprehend  they  would  become  unmanageable, 
and  that  it  was  expedient  to  go  out  of  their  way.  I  was  just 
going  into  my  carriage  when  a  great  crowd  advanced,  and  in 
a  short  time  my  house  was  surrounded  by  three  or  four  thou 
sand  people,  and  one  quarter  part  in  arms.  I  went  to  the  front 
door,  where  I  was  met  by  five  persons,  who  acquainted  me 
they  were  a  Committee  from  the  people  to  demand  a  resigna 
tion  of  my  seat  at  the  Board.  I  was  shocked  at  their  ingrati 
tude  and  false  dealings,  and  reproached  them  with  it.  They 
excused  themselves  by  saying  the  people  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  vote  of  the  Committee,  and  insisted  on  my  signing  a  paper 
they  had  prepared  for  that  purpose.  I  found  I  had  been  en 
snared,  and  endeavored  to  reason  them  out  of  such  ungrateful 
behavior.  They  gave  such  answers,  that  I  found  it  was  in  vain 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  495 

to  reason  longer  with  them ;  I  told  them  my  first  considerations 
were  for  my  honor,  the  next  for  my  life ;  that  they  might  put 
me  to  death  or  destroy  my  property,  but  I  would  not  submit. 
They  began  then  to  reason  in  their  turn,  urging  the  power  of 
the  people,  and  the  danger  of  opposing  them.  All  this  occa 
sioned  a  delay,  which  enraged  part  of  the  multitude,  who, 
pressing  into  my  back-yard,  denounced  vengeance  to  the  foes  of 
their  liberties.  The  Committee  endeavored  to  moderate  them, 
and  desired  them  to  keep  back,  for  they  pressed  up  to  my  win 
dows,  which  then  were  open ;  I  could  from  thence  hear  them  at 
a  distance  calling  out  for  a  determination,  and,  with  their  arms 
in  their  hands,  swearing  they  would  have  my  blood  if  I  refused 
The  Committee  appeared  to  be  anxious  for  me,  still  I  refused 
to  sign ;  part  of  the  populace  growing  furious,  and  the  distress 
of  my  family  who  heard  their  threats,  and  supposed  them  just 
about  to  be  executed,  called  up  feelings  which  I  could  not 
suppress ;  and  nature,  ready  to  find  new  excuses,  suggested  a 
thought  of  the  calamities  I  should  occasion  if  I  did  not  com 
ply;  I  found  myself  giving  way,  and  b^gan  to  cast  about  to 
contrive  means  to  come  off  with  honor.  I  proposed  they  should 
call  in  the  people  to  take  me  out  by  force,  but  they  said  the 
people  were  enraged,  and  they  would  not  answer  for  the  con 
sequences  ;  I  told  them  I  would  take  the  risk,  but  they  refused 
to  do  it.  Reduced  to  this  extremity,  I  cast  my  eyes  over  the 
paper,  with  a  hurry  of  mind  and  conflict  of  passion  which 
rendered  me  unable  to  remark  the  contents,  and  wrote  under 
neath  the  following  words :  '  My  house  at  Cambridge  being 
surrounded  by  four  thousand  people,  in  compliance  with  their 
commands,  I  sign  my  name,  THOMAS  OLIVER.'  The  five  per 
sons  took  it,  carried  it  to  the  people,  and,  I  believe,  used  their 
endeavors  to  get  it  accepted.  I  had  several  messages  that 
the  people  would  not  accept  it  with  those  additions,  upon 
which  I  walked  into  the  court-yard,  and  declared  I  would  do 
no  more,  though  they  should  put  me  to  death.  I  perceived 
that  those  persons  who  formed  the  first  body  which  came 
down  in  the  morning,  consisting  of  the  landholders  of  the 
neighboring  towns,  used  their  utmost  endeavors  to  get  the 


496  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

paper  received  with  my  additions ;  and  I  must,  in  justice  to 
them,  observe,  that,  during  the  whole  transaction,  they  had 
never  invaded  my  enclosures,  but  still  were  not  able  to  protect 
me  from  other  insults  which  I  received  from  those  who  were 
in  arms.  From  this  consideration  I  am  induced  to  quit  the 
country,  and  seek  protection  in  the  town." 

The  document  presented  to  Mr.  Oliver  on  the  2d  of  Septem 
ber,  and  which  he  signed,  was  as  follows  :  "I,  Thomas  Oli 
ver,  being  appointed  by  his  Majesty  to  a  seat  at  the  Council 
Board,  upon,  and  in  conformity  to  the  late  Act  of  Parliament, 
entitled  an  '  Act  for  the  better  regulation  of  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,'  which  being  a  manifest  infringement  of 
the  Charter  rights  and  privileges  of  this  people,  I  do  hereby, 
in  conformity  to  the  commands  of  the  body  of  this  County 
now  convened,  most  solemnly  renounce  and  resign  my  seat  at 
said  unconstitutional  Board,  and  hereby  firmly  promise  and 
engage,  as  a  man  of  honor  and  a  Christian,  that  I  never  will 
hereafter,  upon  any  terms  whatsoever,  accept  a  seat  at  said 
Board  on  the  present  novel  and  oppressive  plan  of  Govern 
ment."  To  this,  the  original  form,  he  added  the  words  above 
recited.  Judge  Danforth  and  Judge  Lee.  who  were  also  Man 
damus  Councillors,  and  Mr.  Phipps,  the  sheriff,  and  Mr. 
Mason,  clerk  of  the  County,  were  compelled  to  submit  to  the 
same  body,  and  make  written  resignations. 

Governor  Oliver,  as  stated  by  himself,  went  into  Boston,  and 
made  assurances  both  to  General  Gage  and  to  the  Admiral  on 
the  station,  which  prevented  a  body  of  troops  from  being  sent  to 
disperse  the  large  body  of  people  who  assembled  at  Cambridge 
on  this  occasion ;  and  to  these  assurances  it  was  owing,  un 
doubtedly,  that  the  day  passed  without  bloodshed.  But  for 
the  peaceable  demeanor  of  those  whom  he  met  in  the  morning, 
—  the  landholders  of  the  neighboring  towns, —  the  first  colli 
sion  between  the  king's  troops  and  the  inhabitants  of  Massa 
chusetts,  would  have  occurred,  very  likely,  at  Cambridge, 
and  not  at  Lexington.  A  detachment  was  sent  to  the  former 
town  the  day  before,  to  bring  off  some  pieces  of  cannon, 
and  from  this  circumstance  arose,  principally,  the  proceed- 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  497 

ings  related  by  Governor  Oliver.  Indignant  because  the  "  red 
coats  "  had  been  sent  upon  such  an  errand,  thousands  from 
the  surrounding  country  assembled  in  the  course  of  the  day, 
(September  2d,)  armed  with  guns,  sticks,  and  other  weapons; 
and  when  the  Lieutenant  Governor's  promise  on  his  return 
from  Boston,  rendered  it  certain  that  they  would  not  be  op 
posed  by  the  troops,  they  exacted  from  every  official  who  lived 
at  Cambridge  full  compliance  with  their  demands,  as  has  been 
stated. 

From  this  period  Governor  Oliver  lived  in  Boston,  until 
March,  1776,  when  at  the  evacuation  he  accompanied  the 
royal  army  to  Halifax,  and  took  passage  thence  to  England. 
In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished;  and  the  year  follow 
ing  was  included  in  the  conspiracy  act.  His  estate  was  con 
fiscated.  While  in  England  he  lived  in  retirement.  He  died 
at  Bristol,  England,  November  29,  1815,  aged  eighty-two. 
Harriet,  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Yassall,  of  Cam 
bridge,  died  at  the  same  place  in  1808.  His  elegant  mansion 
at  Cambridge  was  occupied  by  Governor  Gerry  for  many 
years.  It  is  said  that  he  was  a  gentleman  of  great  mildness  of 
temper,  and  politeness  of  manners. 

OLIVER,  WILLIAM  SANDFORD.  Of  Boston.  Son  of  Lieutenant 
Governor  Andrew  Oliver,  of  Massachusetts.  In  1776  he  ac 
companied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax.  He  settled  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  the  first  sheriff  of  the 
County.  His  official  papers  in  1784  are  dated  at  Parr,  and 
Parr-town,  by  which  names  St.  John  was  then  known.  In 
1792,  he  held  the  office  of  Marshal  of  the  Court  of  Vice  Ad 
miralty  of  New  Brunswick.  At  the  time  of  his  decease  he 
was  sheriff  of  the  County  of  St.  John,  and  treasurer  of  the 
Colony.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1813,  aged  sixty-two.  Catha 
rine,  his  wife,  died  in  that  city  in  1803,  at  the  age  of  forty-one. 
Elisabeth  Letitia,  his  youngest  daughter,  died  at  Fort  Erie, 
Upper  Canada,  in  1836.  His  son,  William  Sandford,  was  a 
grantee  of  St.  John  in  1783,  but  left  New  Brunswick  about 
1806.  A  Lieutenant  William  Sandford  Oliver,  of  the  Royal 
42* 


498  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Navy,  married  Mary  Oliver,  only  daughter  of  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson,  Esquire,  in  England,  in  1811:  —  possibly  the  same. 

OLMSTEAD,  AARON.  Of  Connecticut.  In  1783  was  a  grantee 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

OLMSTEAD,  ELEAZER.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  Was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Association. 

OLMSTEAD,  NATHAN.  Of  Ridgefield,  Connecticut.  In  January 
1775,  was  chairman  of  a  meeting  called  at  Ridgefield,  to  con 
sider  whether  that  town  would  "adopt  and  conform  to  the 
Resolves  contained  in  the  Association  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress."  About  two  hundred  voters  were  present,  and  it  was 
determined,  with  almost  entire  unanimity,  "  That  it  would  be 
dangerous  and  hurtful  to  adopt  said  Congress's  measures ;  and 
we  hereby  publicly  disapprove  of,  and  protest  against  said 
Congress,  and  the  measures  by  them  directed,  as  unconsti 
tutional,  as  subversive  of  our  real  liberties,  and  as  counte 
nancing  licentiousness." 

O'NEALE,  HENRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown,  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate 
confiscated. 

O'NEIL,  JOSEPH.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army 
for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

O'NEILL,  JAMES.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's 
American  Volunteers. 

ORIN,  JOHN.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783. 

ORMOND,  GEORGE.  Adjutant  of  the  Queen's  Rangers.  At 
the  peace  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  but  removed  from  the 
Colony,  and  probably  to  Canada.  A  son  is  lieutenant-colonel 
in  the  British  army. 

ORNE,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  He  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1768 ;  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage  in 
1774.  A  mob  seized  him  in  1775,  but  were  persuaded  to  re 
linquish  their  design  of  tarring  and  feathering  him. 

OSBORN,  NATHAN.  Of  Westchester  County.  A  Protester  at 
White  Plains. 

OSWALD,  ATWOOD.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
P^nnswick. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  499 

OWEN,  JOHN.  Of  Fishing  Creek,  South  Carolina.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

OWENS,  JOHN.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick.  He  died  previous  to  1805  ;  Mary,  his  widow,  survived 
until  that  year. 

OXNARD,  EDWARD.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Brother  of  Thomas 
Oxnard.  He  was  born  in  1746,  and  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1767.  As  the  revolutionary  controversy  ap 
proached  to  a  crisis,  he  was  a  merchant ;  and  between  May 
and  October,  1775,  officiated  as  reader  of  the  Episcopal  society. 
After  the  burning  of  Falmouth  by  Mowatt,  he  retreated  from 
Maine,  and  went  to  England.  In  1776  he  was  in  London, 
and  a  member  of  the  New  England  Club,  formed  there  early 
in  that  year,  by  several  Loyalists  of  Massachusetts,  who 
agreed  to  meet  and  have  a  dinner  weekly  at  the  Adelphi, 
Strand.  This  Club,  February  1,  was  composed  of  the  follow 
ing  members:  —  Governor  Hutchinson,  Richard  Clark,  Joseph 
Green,  Jonathan  Bliss,  Jonathan  Sewall,  Joseph  Waldo,  S.  S. 
Blowers,  Elisha  Hutchinson,  William  Hutchinson,  Samuel 
Sewall,  Samuel  Quincy,  Isaac  Smith,  Harrison  Gray,  David 
Greene,  Jonathan  Clark,  Thomas  Flucker,  Joseph  Taylor, 
Daniel  Silsbee,  Thomas  Brinley,  William  Cabot,  John  S.  Cop 
ley,  Nathaniel  Coffin,  Samuel  Porter,  Benjamin  Pickman, 
John  Amory,  Robert  Auchmuty,  Major  Urquhart,  Samuel 
Curwen,  and  the  subject  of  this  notice;  all  of  whom,  Urqu 
hart  excepted,  are  mentioned  in  this  volume.  In  1778,  Mr. 
Oxnard  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  returned  to  Port 
land  soon  after  the  conclusion  of  hostilities,  and  was  an  auc 
tioneer  and  commission  merchant.  He  died  July  2d,  1803. 
His  wife,  who  was  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Jabez  Fox,  and  a 
descendant  of  John  Fox,  author  of  the  Book  of  Martyrs ;  and 
his  sons  William,  Edward,  and  John,  and  one  daughter,  sur 
vived  him. 

OXNARD,  THOMAS.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Brother  of  Edward. 
He  was  born  in  1740,  and  removed  to  Falmouth  (no\v  Port 
land)  some  years  previous  to  the  Revolution,  and  established 
himself  as  a  merchant.  In  1764  he  was  among  those  who 


500  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

seceded  from  the  old  parish,  and  formed  a  society  of  Episco 
palians.  In  1770,  after  Mr.  Lyde  was  commissioned  collector 
of  the  customs,  he  was  appointed  deputy,  and  continued  in 
office  until  the  royal  authority  came  to  an  end,  when  he  left 
the  country.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  Dur 
ing  some  part  of  the  war  he  was  at  the  royal  post  established 
at  Castine,  and  in  1782  his  wife  was  permitted,  by  a  resolve 
of  the  General  Court,  to  join  him,  "  with  her  two  servant 
maids,  and  such  part  of  her  household  goods  as  the  selectmen 
of  Falmouth  should  admit."  At  a  period  subsequent  to  the 
war,  he  was  at  the  island  of  Grand  Menan,  Bay  of  Fundy ; 
but  returned  to  Portland  not  long  after  the  peace,  and  between 
the  years  1787  and  1792,  officiated  as  reader  to  the  Episcopal 
society.  He  "  designed  to  go  to  England  to  take  orders,  but 
having  a  correspondence  with  Mr.  Belsham  of  London,  Doctor 
Freeman  of  Boston  and  others,  he  imbibed  Unitarian  views  of 
religion,  and  not  being  able  to  satisfy  his  society  of  their  truth, 
he  was  dismissed,  and  gave  up  his  intention  of  preaching." 
He  died  at  Portland,  May  20,  1799,  aged  fifty-nine.  His  wife 
was  Martha,  a  daughter  of  General  Jedediah  Preble,  a  distin 
guished  Whig,  and  a  sister  of  the  celebrated  Commodore  Ed 
ward  Preble,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  His  children  were 
Thomas,  Henry,  Stephen  D.,  and  Martha.  Thomas  com 
manded  the  American  privateer  True  Blooded  Yankee,  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  was  famous  for  his  success  and  the  boldness 
of  his  enterprises ;  at  his  death,  he  requested  that  the  flag  of 
his  country  should  be  his  shroud.  Henry,  the  second  son, 
who  was  a  merchant  and  a  ship-owner,  and  a  gentleman  highly 
beloved  for  his  many  virtues,  died  at  Boston3  December  15, 
1843. 

PADDOCK,  ADINO.  Of  Boston.  He  was  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Zachariah  Paddock,  who  came  over  in  the  May  Flower  in 
1620,  but  who,  being  a  minor,  was  not  included  in  the  list  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Plymouth.  Zachariah  married  and  left 
children.  The  family  increased  and  branched  off,  and  at  the 
Revolutionary  period,  members  of  it  were  to  be  found  in  vari- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  501 

ous  parts  of  New  England,  in  New  Jersey,  and  even  in  South  % 
Carolina.  In  1749  Adino  —  the  subject  of  this  notice  —  mar 
ried  Lydia  Snelling,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children.  He 
settled  in  Boston,  where  he  manufactured  chairs,  and  trans 
acted  his  business  near  the  head  of  Bumstead  Place.  He  was 
much  respected.  He  commanded  the  Boston  Train  of  Artille 
ry,  obtained  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  military  of  the  day, 
and  was  considered  an  excellent  officer.  The  elm  trees  in 
Tremont  street  were  planted  by  him,  and  were  for  years  the 
objects  of  his  care.  It  is  related,  that  on  one  occasion,  he 
offered  the  reward  of  a  guinea  for  the  detection  of  the  person 
who  hacked  one  or  more  of  them.  Nine  of  Colonel  Paddock's 
children  died  in  infancy ;  and  John,  a  student  at  Harvard 
College,  was  drowned  in  Charles  river  while  bathing  in  1773. 
In  March,  1776,  he  embarked  for  Halifax  with  the  royal 
army,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  and  by  Adino,  Elisabeth,  and 
Rebecca,  his  surviving  children.  In  June  of  that  year,  the 
whole  family,  his  son  Adino  excepted,  sailed  from  Halifax  for 
England. 

Two  years  after  Colonel  Paddock  abandoned  his  native 
land,  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  From  1781  until  his 
decease,  he  resided  on  the  Isle  of  Jersey,  and  for  several  years 
held  the  office  of  Inspector  of  Artillery  Stores,  with  the  rank 
of  captain.  He  died  March  25,  1804,  aged  seventy-six  years. 
Lydia,  his  wife,  died  at  the  Isle  of  Jersey  in  1781,  aged  fifty- 
one.  He  received  a  partial  compensation  for  his  losses  as  a 
Loyalist. 

PADDOCK,  ADINO,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  Son  of  Colonel  Adino 
Paddock.  He  accompanied  his  father  to  Halifax  in  1776,  as 
related  above,  and  in  1779  followed  him  to  England,  where  he 
entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  and  surgery.  Having 
attended  the  different  hospitals  of  London,  and  fitted  himself 
for  practice,  he  returned  to  America  before  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  and  was  surgeon  of  the  King's  American  Dra 
goons.  In  1784  he  married  Margaret  Ross,  of  Casco  Bay, 
Maine,  and  settling  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  confined  his 
attention  to  professional  pursuits.  In  addition  to  extensive 


502  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


successful  private  practice,  he  enjoyed  from  government, 
the  post  of  surgeon  to  the  ordnance  of  New  Brunswick.  He 
died  at  St.  Mary's,  York  County,  in  1817,  aged  fifty-eight. 
Margaret,  his  wife,  died  at  St.  John  in  1815,  at  the  age  of 
fifty.  The  fruit  of  their  union  was  ten  children;  —  of  whom 
three  sons,  namely,  Adino,  Thomas,  and  John,  were  educated 
physicians.  Adino  commenced  practice  in  1808,  and  is  still 
(1846)  living  at  Kingston,  New  Brunswick.  Thomas  mar 
ried  Mary,  daughter  of  Arthur  McLellan,  Esquire,  of  Port 
land,  Maine,  and  died  at  St.  John,  deeply  lamented,  in  1838, 
aged  forty-seven.  John,  the  youngest,  resides  at  St.  John. 

PAFFORD,  JOHN.     Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.     An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

PAGAN,  ROBERT.  A  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland.  Was  born 
in  1750.  He  emigrated  to  America  early  in  life,  and  estab 
lished  himself  as  a  merchant  at  Falmouth,  Maine  (now  Port 
land).  Though  a  young  man,  "  He  pursued  on  a  large  scale 
the  lumber  business  and  ship-building.  The  ships  which 
were  built  were  not  generally  employed  in  our  trade,  but  with 
their  cargoes  sent  to  Europe  and  sold.  Mr.  Pagan  kept  on  the 
corner  of  King  and  Fore  streets,  the  largest  stock  of  goods 
which  was  employed  here  before  the  war  ;  he  was  a  man  of 
popular  manners  and  much  beloved  by  the  people."  In  1775 
he  became  involved  in  the  controversies  of  the  time,  and  aban 
doned  his  business  and  the  country  soon  after  the  burning  of 
Falmouth  by  Mo  watt.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished.  He  settled  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  in  1784, 
and  became  one  of  the  principal  men  in  the  County  of 
Charlotte.  After  serving  the  crown  as  agent  for  lands  in  New 
Brunswick,  and  in  superintending  affairs  connected  with 
grants  to  Loyalists,  he  was  in  commission  as  a  magistrate,  as 
Judge  of  a  Court,  and  as  colonel  in  the  militia,  and  being  a 
favorite  among  the  freeholders  of  the  County,  was  elected  to 
the  House  of  Assembly,  and  for  several  years  was  a  leading 
member  of  that  body.  Judge  Pagan  died  at  St.  Andrew,  No 
vember  23,  1821;  and  Miriam,  his  widow,  (a  daughter  of 
Jeremiah  Pote,)  deceased  at  the  same  place,  January,  1828, 
aged  eighty-one.  They  were  childless. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  503 

PAGAN,  THOMAS.  Brother  of  Robert  Pagan.  He  went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  was  one  of  the 
grantees  of  that  city,  and  established  himself  as  a  merchant. 
He  removed  to  Halifax,  and  while  absent  in  Scotland  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health,  died  in  1804. 

PAGAN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Maine.  Brother  of  Robert  and  Thomas. 
He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  and  of  the  Council.  His  death  occurred 
at  Fredericton,  March  12,  1819. 

PAGE,  GEORGE.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army, 
for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

PAINE,  SAMUEL.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  Tn  1775  he 
was  sent  by  the  Committee  of  that  town,  under  guard,  "  to 
Watertown  or  Cambridge,  to  be  dealt  with  as  the  honorable 
Congress  or  Commander-in-chief  shall,  upon  examination, 
think  proper."  His  direct  offences  consisted,  apparently,  in 
saying,  that  the  Hampshire  troops  had  robbed  the  house  of 
Mr.  Bradish ;  that  he  had  heard  the  Whig  soldiers  were  de 
serting  in  great  numbers ;  and,  that  he  was  told  "  the  men* 
were  so  close  stowed  in  the  Colleges  that  they  were  lousy.'7 
This  is  the  substance  of  the  testimony  of  a  neighbor,  the  only 
witness  who  appeared  against  him,  and  who  had  a  conversation 
with  him  (in  the  garden  of  the  witness)  immediately  after  he 
had  been  on  a  visit  to  Cambridge,  where  the  Whig  army  was 
then  encamped.  Tn  1776  Mr.  Paine  accompanied  the  British 
army  from  Boston  to  Halifax.  During  the  war  he  wandered 
from  place  to  place,  and  apparently  without  regular  employ 
ment.  After  the  war  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  died 
at  Worcester  in  1807.  He  was  a  son  of  Honorable  Timothy 
Paine,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University  of  the  class  of 
1771. 

*  PAINE,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1748.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  General  Court  for  some  years,  and  a  stout  government- 
man  in  the  controversies  in  that  body  which  preceded  the 
Revolution.  In  1774  he  was  appointed  a  Mandamus  Council 
lor,  and  in  August  of  that  year,  about  fifteen  hundred  people 


504  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

assembled  on  the  Common  in  Worcester,  and  elected  Joseph 
Gilbert,  John  Goulding,  Edward  Rawson,  Thomas  Dennie, 
and  Joshua  Bigelow,  a  Committee,  to  wait  upon  him  and  to 
demand  of  him  satisfaction  for  having  accepted  the  appoint 
ment.  After  some  delay  he  wrote  and  signed  his  resignation. 
The  committee  insisted  further,  that  he  should  personally 
appear  before  the  people ;  this  he  did,  when  Mr.  Dennie  read 
his  resignation.  It  was  then  insisted  that  he  should  read  the 
paper  himself,  and  with  his  hat  off.  He  hesitated,  and  de 
manded  the  protection  of  the  committee,  but  finally  complied, 
and  was  allowed  to  retire  to  his  dwelling  unharmed.  The 
object  of  the  multitude  having  been  accomplished,  they  with 
drew  in  companies,  those  of  each  town  marching  off  in  a  sep 
arate  body.  Mr.  Paine  died  in  1793. 

PAINE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  Son  of  Hon 
orable  Timothy  Paine.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1768.  He  was  educated  to  the  medical  profession,  and  having 
been  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778,  became  apothecary  to 
the  British  forces  in  Rhode  Island  and  New  York.  He  settled 
after  the  Revolution  in  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly  for  the  County  of 
Charlotte.  He,  however,  removed  to  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
and  thence  to  Worcester,  and  died  in  the  latter  town,  April, 
1833,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

PALMER,  GIDEON.  A  coroner,  of  Westmoreland  County,  New 
Brunswick.  Died  at  St.  John  in  1824,  aged  seventy-five. 

PALMER,  JACOB.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowl 
edged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  In  1779  he  was  an  Addresser 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling. 

PALMER,  NATHAN.  A  lieutenant  of  Tory  levies.  He  was 
detected  in  the  camp  of  General  Putnam.  Governor  Try  on 
claimed  his  surrender,  when  Putnam  replied,  "Sir;  Nathan 
Palmer,  a  lieutenant  in  your  king's  service,  was  taken  in  my 
camp  as  a  spy,  he  was  tried  as  a  spy,  he  was  condemned  as  a 
spy,  and  you  may  rest  assured,  sir,  that  he  shall  be  hanged  as 
a  spy." 

"P.  S.  Afternoon — he  is  hanged."  In  some  accounts  this 
man  is  call  Edmund  Palmer. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  5()5 

PALMER.  RICHARD.  Cabinet-maker,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1778 
it  was  ordered  by  the  Council  of  Pennsylvania,  that,  failing  to 
surrender  and  abide  a  legal  trial  for  treason,  he  should  stand 
attainted. 

PALMER,  ROBERT.  Of  Beaufort,  North  Carolina.  His  prop 
erty  was  confiscated  in  1779.  He  went  to  England. 

PALMER,  THOMAS.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1761.  In  1774  he  was  appointed  a 
Mandamus  Councillor,  but  was  not  sworn  into  office.  He  died 
in  1820. 

PANTON,  GEORGE.  In  July,  1783,  he  was  at  New  York,  and 
one  of  the  fifty-five  Loyalists  who  petitioned  for  lands  in  Nova 
Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

PANTON,  W.  Of  Georgia.  He  removed  beyond  the  limits 
of  that  State,  early  in  the  struggle,  and  in  1793  lived  at 
Pensacola.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  the  particular 
friend  and  agent  of  Colonel  Brown,  who  succeeded  Colonel 
Stuart  in  the  British  superintendency  of  the  four  southern 
nations  of  Indians ;  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  presents  of 
the  British  government  to  these  nations  passed  through  his 
hands,  and  the  hands  of  his  connexions  in  different  parts  of 
Florida :  and  from  the  Spanish  government  he  had  authority 
to  import  goods  directly  from  England,  to  conduct  an  exten 
sive  Indian  trade.  His  importations  are  estimated  in  our  State 
papers  at  £40,000  annually.  From  these  papers  it  appears 
also,  that  he  was  particularly  hostile  to  the  United  States,  and 
frequently  told  the  Creeks,  when  he  delivered  them  guns,  that 
"  these  guns  were  to  kill  the  Americans,  and  that  he  had 
rather  have  them  applied  to  that  use  than  to  the  shooting  of 
deer."  That  the  feelings  attributed  to  Mr.  Panton  were  very 
common  among  the  Loyalists,  who  established  their  residence 
with,  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  savage  tribes,  there  is  ample  evi 
dence.  To  the  agency  of  such  persons,  indeed,  the  desolating 
wars  which  occurred  on  our  frontiers  a  few  years  after  the 
peace  of  1783,  and  especially  in  Washington's  administration, 
are  supposed  to  be  justly  chargeable.  In  the  course  of  the 
transactions  of  the  firm  of  Pan  ton,  Leslie,  and  Company,  of 
43 


506  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

which  Mr.  Panton  was  a  member,  a  large  debt  became  due 
from  the  Indians,  which,  by  consent  of  Spain,  was  finally  ex 
tinguished  by  the  conveyance  of  a  tract  of  land  in  Florida 
forty  miles  square ;  this  domain,  I  am  led  to  conclude,  was  in 
the  hands  of  John  Forbes  and  Company  in  1821,  as  the  suc 
cessors  of  the  first  mentioned  firm. 

PARKER,  JAMES.  Of  Virginia.  He  joined  Lord  Dunmore, 
on  the  first  revolt  of  Virginia ;  was  a  captain  in  the  service ; 
and  was  captured  by  the  French  squadron,  and  carried  pris 
oner  to  France.  On  the  passage,  the  ship  in  which  he  first 
embarked  foundered  at  sea ;  but  all  on  board  were  saved. 

PARKER,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  Was  banished  and 
attainted,  and  his  estate  confiscated.  In  1794  he  resided  in 
England,  and  in  that  year  applied  to  the  British  government 
to  interpose  for  the  recovery  of  some  large  debts  due  to  him  in 
America  at  the  time  of  his  banishment. 

PARKER,  JOHN.  Of  New  -York.  In  the  autumn  of  1780  a 
young  Whig,  of  the  name  of  Shew,  was  captured  in  the  woods 
near  Ballston,  by  a  party  of  Indians  and  Tories,  and  at  the 
instigation  of  Parker,  instantly  murdered.  Parker  himself,  not 
long  after,  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  foes,  and  was  tried,  con 
victed,  and  executed  at  Albany,  as  a  spy. 

PARKER,  JOSIAH.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

PARKER,  ROBERT.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  settled  in  New 
Brunswick  in  1783,  and  was  directly  appointed  store-keeper  of 
ordnance,  and  comptroller  of  the  customs  for  the  port  of  St. 
John,  and  filled  these  offices  many  years,  until  his  decease. 
He  died  in  that  city  in  1823,  aged  seventy- three.  His  only 
daughter,  Eliza  Jane,  married  Frederick  Du  Vernet,  Esquire, 
of  the  Royal  Staff  Corps,  in  1816.  His  son,  the  Honorable 
Robert  Parker,  is  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court;  and  his  son 
Neville  Parker,  Esquire,  is  Master  of  the  Rolls  of  New  Bruns 
wick. 

PARKER,  STEPHEN.  Of  North  Carolina. ,  He  was  in  com 
mission  as  a  lieutenant,  and  in  1776  was  captured  and  im 
prisoned. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  507 

PARKER,  TIMOTHY.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick.  1783. 

PARKINSON,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  17SO. 

PARKS,  ROLAND.    A  cornet  in  the  King's  American  Dragoons. 

PARLEE,  PETER.  Died  at  Sussex  Vale,  New  Brunswick, 
1832. 

PARROCK,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  His  estate  was  confis 
cated  in  1779. 

PARRY,  EDWARD.  Merchant,  of  Portsmouth.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  by  the  act  of  New  Hampshire,  of  1778.  He 
was  the  Portsmouth  consignee  of  the  Tea.  Two  parcels  were 
sent  to  him.  The  first  was  landed  and  stored  in  the  Custom 
house,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  people.  This,  upon 
requisition,  he  reshipped  to  Halifax  without  disturbance,  after 
paying  the  duty  in  order  to  obtain  a  clearance  from  the  col 
lector  of  the  customs.  The  second-  lot  was  likewise  reshipped ; 
but  not  until  Mr.  Parry  had  been  in  the  hands  of  a  mob,  who 
demolished  his  windows,  and  caused  him  to  claim  the  protec 
tion  of  the  governor. 

PARTELOW,  JAHIEL.  Of  Connecticut.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of 
that  city.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1831,  aged  eighty-seven. 
His  son  Jahiel  died  at  the  same  place  in  1837,  at  the  age  of 
sixty -six.  John  R.  Partelow,  Esquire,  son  of  the  second 
Jahiel,  was  many  years  chamberlain  of  St.  John,  and  is  now 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  a  leading  politician 
of  New  Brunswick. 

PARTELOW,  MATTHEW.  Of  Connecticut.  Brother  of  Jahiel 
Partelow.  Was  one  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  1783,  and  died  there  in  1834,  aged  eighty-seven.  Mrs. 
Hannah  Wilbur,  his  daughter,  died  at  the  same  place  in  1846, 
at  the  age  of  seventy- three. 

PARTELOW,  RICHARD.  Of  Connecticut.  Died  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  the  year  1800,  aged  ninety-eight. 

PATCHEN,  ANDREW  and  ASAEL.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut. 
Were  members  of  the  Association. 


508 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


PATERSON,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Was  an  Addresser  of  the 
king  at  London,  1779. 

PATERSON,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

PATERSON.  The  following  (residence  unknown)  were  in  the 
military  service  of  the  crown  in  1782.  Robert,  as  a  lieutenant 
in  the  New  York  Volunteers;  William,  as  surgeon  of  the 
Second  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers ;  John,  as  chaplain 
of  the  Maryland  Loyalists ;  and  William,  as  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Georgia  Loyalists. 

PATTEN,  GEORGE.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

PATTEN,  JOHN.  Was  at  Halifax  in  July,  1776,  a  Loyalist 
Refugee. 

PATTERSON,  JOSIAH.     One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  1783. 

PATTERSON,  WILLIAM.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

PATTERSON,  W.,  ESQUIRE.  Sheriff  of  Cumberland  County, 
New  York.  In  the  difficulties  which  occurred  between  the 
Whigs  and  Loyalists  of  that  County,  early  in  1775,  he  seems 
to  have  borne  a  prominent,  and  a  most  unfortunate  part.  Ac 
cording  to  a  report  drawn  up  by  the  Whig  Committee,  the 
disputes  then  common  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  were  aggra 
vated  and  increased  by  an  attempt  of  some  persons  in  author 
ity  in  the  royal  interest,  to  suppress  circular  letters  from  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in 
1774.  In  the  course  of  the  dissensions  which  followed  a 
knowledge  of  this  circumstance  by  the  Whigs,  an  attempt  was 
made  by  them  to  prevent  the  usual  session  of  the  County 
Court ;  when  Mr.  Patterson  appeared  at  the  Court  House,  at 
the  head  of  a  party  of  armed  adherents  of  the  crown ;  directed 
the  king's  proclamation  to  be  read ;  and  ordered  the  Whigs 
"  to  disperse  in  fifteen  minutes,  or  by  God  he  would  blow  a 
lane  through  them."  Colonel  Chandler,  one  of  the  Judges, 
had  been  consulted  on  a  previous  day,  as  to  the  expediency  of 
the  Court's  sitting  in  the  existing  state  of  public  feeling,  and 
had  promised,  that  no  force  should  be  used  against  the  Whigs, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  509 

who  might  assemble  at  the  Court  House,  to  carry  out  their 
intentions  of  stopping  legal  proceedings ;  and  the  presence  of 
Patterson,  thus  attended,  was  of  course  wholly  unexpected. 
The  Whigs  were  unarmed.  Colonel  Chandler  was  appealed 
to,  acknowledged  what  he  had  said,  and  averred  that  arms 
had  been  brought  to  the  ground  without  his  consent  or  knowl 
edge  ;  and  still  continuing  his  pacific  disposition,  endeavored 
to  disarm  Patterson's  party,  and  prevent  extremities.  But  his 
exertions  and  moderate  counsels  were  without  avail.  Angry 
words,  oaths,  imprecations,  and  threats,  ensued;  and,  finally, 
bloodshed.  Several  of  the  Whigs  were  maimed  and  wounded, 
and  one,  of  the  name  of  William  French,  received  four  bullets, 
one  of  which  went  through  his  brain  and  killed  him.  Violent 
commotions  rapidly  followed  these  proceedings.  A  consider 
able  body  of  men  equipped  for  war,  from  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts,  soon  arrived;  and  the  government  of  New 
York  interposed.  That  Mr.  Patterson  was  very  much  in 
fault,  in  the  transactions  which  connect  his  name  with  the  sad 
deeds  here  briefly  considered,  hardly  admits  of  a  doubt ;  and 
appears  as  well  from  the  statements  of  the  Loyalists,  as  from 
the  report  of  the  Whig  Committee.  And  besides,  the  course 
of  events  in  the  House  of  Assembly  shows  a  state  of  feeling 
quite  unfavorable  to  his  exculpation.  By  referring  to  the  do 
ings  of  that  body,  in  the  session  commenced  in  January,  1775, 
it  will  be  found,  that  Mr.  Brush,  a  member  of  the  ministerial 
party,  moved  for  a  grant  of  £1000,  for  the  purpose  of  "  re 
instating  and  maintaining  the  due  administration  of  justice  in 
said  County,  [of  Cumberland]  and  for  the  suppression  of  riots 
therein ; "  which  sum,  after  debate,  was  voted.  But  every 
Whig  member  present,  and  several  of  Mr.  Brush's  party,  voted 
against  the  measure  ;  and  it  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  only 
two,  including  the  Speaker.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  that,  while 
the  Whigs  at  the  Court  House  deny  that  they  were  armed, 
Patterson's  friends  assert  the  contrary ;  though  both  agree  in 
the  important  circumstance,  that  the  Loyalists  were  the  first 
to  use  weapons,  the  first  to  fire. 

PATTINSON,   THOMAS.     Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the   Prince  of 
43* 


510  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Wales's  American  Volunteers.  He  died  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  before  December,  1782. 

PAUL, .  Of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  In  1782  he 

was  sentenced  to  die  as  a  spy,  and  was  confined  in  the  camp 
of  Lafayette.  The  evening  before  the  day  appointed  for  his 
execution  he  escaped. 

PAXTON,  CHARLES.  He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Customs  at  Boston  ;  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  In  1769  he  and  his  associates  were 
posted  in  the  Boston  Gazette  by  James  Otis.  It  was  this  card 
of  Otis's  which  brought  on  the  altercation  with  Robinson, 
another  commissioner,  in  the  coffee-house  in  State  street,  that 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Massachusetts  Bank ;  and 
which  resulted  in  injuries  to  the  head  of  the  first  champion  of 
the  Revolution,  from  which  he  never  recovered.  Paxton  was 
remarkable  for  finished  politeness  arid  courtesy  of  manners. 
His  office  was  unpopular  and  even  odious ;  arid  the  wags  of 
the  day  made  merry  with  qualities,  which  at  any  other  time 
would  have  commanded  respect.  On  Pope-day,  as  the  gun 
powder  plot  anniversary,  or  5th  of  November,  was  called, 
there  was  usually  a  grand  pageant  of  various  figures  on  a 
stage  mounted  on  wheels  and  drawn  through  the  streets  with 
horses.  Lanterns,  transparencies  of  oiled  paper  having  in 
scriptions;  figures  of  the  Pretender  suspended  to  a  gibbet 
of  the  devil,  and  the  Pope  with  appropriate  implements 
and  dress,  were  among  the  objects  devised  to  draw  attention 
and  make  up  the  show.  Sometimes  political  characters,  who 
in  popular  estimation  should  keep  company  with  the  person 
ages  represented,  were  added,  and  of  these,  Commissioner 
Paxton  was  one.  On  one  occasion  he  was  exhibited  between 
the  figures  of  the  devil  and  the  pope,  in  proper  figure,  with 
this  label ;  "  every  marts  humble  servant,  but  no  mart  s  friend  " 
Pope-day  was  never  celebrated  after  the  shedding  of  blood  at 
Lexington.  As  head  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  Mr. 
Paxton  directed  his  deputy  at  Salem,  Mr.  Cockle,  in  1760,  to 
apply  to  the  Court  for  the  writs  of  assistance,  under  which  the 
officers  of  the  revenue  were  to  have  authority  to  enter  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  511 

search  all  places  which  they  should  suspect  to  contain  smug 
gled  goods.  In  the  discussions  consequent  upon  this  applica 
tion,  James  Otis  distinguished  himself,  and  during  his  great 
speech  on  the  question,  "  Independence,"  said  John  Adams, 
"  was  born."  Mr.  Paxton  accompanied  the  British  army  to 
Halifax  at  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  and  embarked  for  Eng 
land  with  his  family,  in  the  ship  Aston  Hall,  July,  1776.  In 
1780  he  was  a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  Governor  Hutchin- 
son.  His  own  death  occurred  in  England  in  1782. 

PEABODY,  FRANCIS.  A  captain ;  took  refuge  in  New  Bruns 
wick  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  settled  at  Maugerville,  Sun- 
derland  County,  of  that  Colony. 

PEABODY,  FRANCIS.  Son  of  Captain  Francis  Peabody.  Was 
born  in  1760,  and  emigrated  with  his  father  to  New  Bruns 
wick  at  the  peace.  He  resided  at  Chatham  in  that  Colony 
about  half  a  century,  and  died  there,  July,  1841,  aged  eighty- 
one  years. 

PEARCE,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

PEARIS,  RICHARD.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Caro 
lina. 

PEARSALL,  WILLIAM  and  THOMAS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  William  was 
subsequently  in  arms  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  and  a  party 
who  robbed  the  mother-in-law  of  Thomas,  struck  at  him  with 
an  axe.  In  1781  Thomas  was  made  prisoner  by  a  party  of 
Whigs  who  came  to  North  Hernpstead. 

PEARSON,  JACOB.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick.  He  became  a  pilot  of  that  port. 

PEASE,  SIMON.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Was  an  officer  of  the 
Loyal  Newport  Associators.  He  died  previous  to  January  1, 
1778. 

PEAVEY,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

PECK,  DAVID,  HENRY,  and  JAMES.  Were  grantees  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  1783.  James  returned  to  the  United  States. 

PECKER,  JEREMIAH.  Of  Haverhill,  Massachusetts.    Graduated 


512 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


at  Harvard  University  in  1757.  After  the  Revolution,  he 
taught  a  school  in  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  died  in  that 
city  in  1809. 

PEDERICK,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

PEIRCE,  JOHN.  Of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  Eldest 
son  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  Peirce.  Was  born  in  1746,  and 
died  June,  1814.  He  was  opposed  to  the  Revolution,  at  its 
commencement;  but  was  respected  by  the  Whigs,  as  a  man 
of  principle  and  integrity.  He  was  educated  a  merchant,  and 
became  not  only  a  thorough  accountant,  but  had  a  peculiar 
faculty  of  adjusting  intricate  and  long  contested  claims.  His 
friends,  his  townsmen,  corporations,  and  landed  proprietors,  at 
various  periods,  honored  him  with  important  trusts ;  and  he 
was  connected,  from  time  to  time,  with  almost  every  matter 
which  required  the  exercise  of  his  properties  of  character.  He 
was  distinguished  for  benevolence,  decision,  and  sound  judg 
ment.  Under  President  Adams,  he  was  Loan  Officer  for  New 
Hampshire.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  superior  man,  every 
way. 

PELHAM,  HENRY.  Embarked,  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army,  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

PELL,  JAMES.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A  Pro 
tester  at  White  Plains. 

PELL,  PHILIP.  A  magistrate,  of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

PELLEW,  HUMPHREY.  Was  an  extensive  merchant,  and 
largely  concerned  in  shipping  and  in  the  American  trade.  He 
purchased  a  tobacco  plantation  of  two  thousand  acres  in 
Maryland,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  he  ever  came  to  reside 
upon  it,  or  to  visit  it.  This  estate  was  confiscated,  and  the 
city  of  Annapolis  is  built  partly  upon  it.  Three  of  his  grand 
sons  served  on  the  royal  side  during  the  Revolution,  and 
Washington  expressed  the  opinion  to  a  friend  of  the  family, 
that  this  circumstance  would  prevent  the  success  of  an  appli 
cation  to  Maryland  for  its  restoration ;  and  as  no  compensation 
was  made  under  the  act  of  parliament,  the  loss  was  total. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  513 

These  grandsons  were  John,  Israel,  and  Edward  Pellew. 
John  was  aid-de-camp  to  General  Phillips,  and  was  killed  in 
one  of  the  battles  which  preceded  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne. 
Israel  was  an  officer  in  the  Flora  frigate,  and  was  on  the 
American  station  some  part  of  the  war.  In  after  life  he  be 
came  Admiral  Sir  Israel  Pellew,  K.  C.  B.,  and  died  in  1832. 
Edward  was  also  a  naval  officer,  and  was  engaged  on  Lake 
Champlain.  Arnold  barely  escaped  becoming  his  prisoner. 
The  circumstance,  as  related  at  the  time,  and  as  confirmed  by 
Arnold's  son  James,  (who  is  now  a  General  in  the  British 
army,)  was  briefly  this.  Arnold,  while  in  command  of  the 
Whig  flotilla,  ventured  out  upon  the  lake  in  a  small  boat,  was 
seen,  and  chased  by  young  Pellew,  who  gained  upon  him, 
and  compelled  him  to  make  the  nearest  landing  upon  the 
shore,  and  fly ;  leaving  behind  him  in  the  boat  his  stock  and 
buckle,  which  were  taken  by  his  pursuer,  and  which  are  still 
preserved  in  the  Pellew  family.  Edward  subsequently  joined 
Burgoyne,  and  was  included  in  the  capitulation.  He  is  known 
in  British  naval  history  as  Lord  Exmouth,  and  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  commanders  of  his  time.  His  attack  on  the 
defences  of  Algiers,  in  1816,  is  one  of  the  most  memorable 
and  successful  enterprises  on  record.  He  died  in  1833,  aged 
seventy-six. 

PEMBERTON,  ISRAEL,  JAMES,  and  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  Were 
apprehended  in  that  city  in  1777,  and  ordered  to  be  sent  pris 
oners  to  Virginia,  for  "being  inimical  to  the  Whig  cause." 
John  had  issued  a  seditious  publication  in  behalf  of  certain 
persons  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  which  had  attracted 
the  attention  and  action  of  Congress.  The  Pembertons  were 
Quakers.  James  died  at  Philadelphia  in  1809,  aged  eighty- 
six.  Israel  Pemberton's  house  was  occupied  by  Hamilton, 
while  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  the  first  United  States  — 
now  the  Girard  —  Bank,  stands  partially  on  his  lot. 

PENUARVIS,  RICHARD.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  com 
mission  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston.  His  property  was 
confiscated. 

PENDERGRASS,  D.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 


514  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

PENDRED,  GEORGE.  An  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

PENN,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  born  in  Philadel 
phia,  and  was  called  "  the  American  Penn."  He  was  a  son  of 
Richard  Penn,  a  grandson  of  William  Penn,  and  governor  of 
Pennsylvania  from  1763  to  1771,  and  from  1773  to  the  begin 
ning  of  hostilities.  In  June,  1774,  about  nine  hundred  re 
spectable  freeholders  in  and  near  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in 
an  urgent  petition,  requested  him  to  call  a  session  of  the  Assem 
bly,  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  Boston  Port  Act,  but  he  re 
fused.  Through  the  same  year  he  kept  Lord  Dartmouth  regu 
larly  advised  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  in  announcing  to  his  Lordship  the  adjournment  of  that 
body,  took  occasion  to  remark,  that  he  had  not  "  had  the  least 
connexion  or  intercourse  with  any  of  the  members."  He  con 
tinued  in  the  country  after  his  government  was  at  an  end; 
and  in  1777;  having  refused  to  sign  a  parole,  was  sent  by  the 
Whigs  to  Fredericksburgh,  Virginia ;  where,  though  restrained 
in  his  liberty,  and  prevented  from  communicating  with  his  po 
litical  friends,  and  from  affording  aid  to  the  royal  cause,  he  was 
treated  with  the  respect  and  consideration  due  to  his  position 
in  society,  and  to  his  private  worth.  His  rights  in  Pennsyl 
vania  were. forfeited.  And  from  a  petition  presented  to  Parlia 
ment  in  1774,  it  appears  that  he  and  Thomas  Penn,  who  was 
a  son  of  William,  the  founder,  were  true  and  absolute  Propri 
etaries  of  the  Colony,  though,  from  a  note  in  Sparks' s  Frank 
lin,  it  is  evident  that  the  interest  of  Thomas  was  by  far  the 
largest.  That  the  reader  may  understand  something  of  the 
nature  and  value  of  the  property  of  the  Penns  in  Pennsylvania, 
at  the  revolutionary  era,  a  brief  outline  of  the  original  grant 
will  be  necessary.  The  royal  charter  to  the  distinguished 
William  Penn  bears  date  in  1681.  The  consideration  recited 
in  the  preamble  is,  to  reward  the  merits  and  services  of 
Admiral  Penn,  and  to  indulge  the  desire  of  his  son  William,  to 
enlarge  the  British  empire,  civilize  the  savage  nations,  &c. 
The  form  of  government  was  to  be  Proprietary ;  that  is,  the 
soil  was  given  to  William  Penn  in  fee,  but  he,  and  his  heirs 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  515 

and  assigns  and  tenants,  were  to  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance 
to  the  British  crown.  Penn  and  his  successors  were  author 
ized  to  govern  the  country  by  a  legislative  body,  to  erect 
courts  of  justice,  and  administer  the  laws,  and  generally  do  all 
things  needful  for  the  well-being  of  the  inhabitants,  so  long  as 
they  kept  within  the  statutes  of  the  realm.  But  yet  there  was 
an  appeal  to  the  tribunals  of  England,  and  the  patent  required, 
that  an  agent  or  representative  should  reside  constantly  in 
Great  Britain,  to  answer  to  alleged  abuses,  and  to  meet  the 
representations  of  individuals.  Thus  Pennsylvania  was  a 
sort  of  hereditary  monarchy  in  miniature.  In  time,  and  as  the 
Colony  became  rich  and  populous,  disputes  arose  between  the 
Governors  who  represented  the  Penns,  and  the  members  of 
the  Assembly  who  represented  the  people.  The  popular  party 
attained  great  strength,  finally ;  and  attempted  to  overthrow 
the  Proprietary  form  of  government  instituted  by  the  patent, 
and  to  procure  the  establishment  of  another  more  congenial  to 
their  interest  and  feelings.  Franklin  was  one  of  the  leaders 
of  this  party,  and  went  to  England  as  their  authorized  agent 
as  early  as  the  year  1757.  No  change  was,  however,  effected. 
The  Revolution — merging  all  other  dissensions — dispossessed 
the  Penns  at  once  of  political  power,  and  of  their  rights  of 
soil.  These  rights  were  of  immense  value,  Mr.  Sparks  has 
preserved  in  Franklin's  works,  a  curious  paper  drawn  up  by 
Thomas  Penn,  which  gives  a  minute  calculation  of  the  sup 
posed  worth  of  the  Proprietary  Estate  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
which  Franklin  completed  on  Penn's  basis.  By  Franklin's 
additions  and  computations,  the  aggregate  value  was  £15,875,- 
500,12;0,  of  the  currency  of  Pennsylvania;  or  about  ten 
million  pounds  sterling.  This  estimation  is,  of  course,  extrava 
gant.  Yet  Franklin  said,  that  after  "deducting  all  the  articles 
containing  the  valuation  of  lands  yet  unsold  and  unappropri 
ated  within  their  patent,  and  the  manors  and  rents  to  be  here 
after  reserved,  and  allowing  for  any  small  over-valuations  in 
their  present  reserved  lands  and  incomes,  (though  it  is  thought 
if  any  be,  it  will  be  not  found  to  exceed  the  under-valuation  in 
other  instances),  there  cannot  remain  less  than  a  million  of 


516  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

property  which  they  now  at  this  time  have  in  Pennsylvania." 
Thus,  then.  Franklin's  own  opinion  in  1759,  would  make  the 
Penns'  Proprietary  interest  at  that  period,  rive  millions  of  dol 
lars.  But,  still  that  sum  included — to  some  degree  at  least — 
the  prospective  value,  as  well  as  the  present.  Whatever  was 
the  actual  worth  in  1759,  or  twenty  years  later,  the  whole 
property  of  the  Proprietary,  except  "  the  tenths  "  of  the  lands 
already  surveyed,  was  confiscated.  Yet  the  Penns  had  pri 
vate  estates  distinguished  from  their  Proprietary  interest,  such 
as  manors,  farms,  and  city  and  town  lots,  which  were  not 
included  in  the  forfeiture.  Some  part  of  these  estates  is  yet 
held  —  or  was  a  few  years  since  —  by  one  of  the  family. 

The  Penn  estate  was  by  far  the  largest  that  was  forfeited 
in  America,  and  perhaps  that  was  ever  sequestered  during  any 
civil  war  in  either  hemisphere.  The  claim  to  compensation 
made  by  the  proprietaries  upon  the  British  government,  caused 
the  commissioners  much  labor  and  investigation.  The  amount 
claimed  was  £944,817  sterling.  It  was  reduced  to  £500,000,  and 
as  thus  estimated  and  liquidated,  was  recommended  to  Parlia 
ment  for  allowance.  The  commissioners  made  a  special 
report  of  this  case  (as  they  did  of  a  few  others),  and  from  its 
complicated  nature,  it  occupied  their  attention  many  weeks. 
Before  coming  to  a  decision,  they  obtained  from  Pennsylvania 
the  evidence  of  the  person  who  had  been  the  receiver  general 
of  the  proprietaries  from  1753  to  the  Revolution,  who  carried 
to  England  many  accounts  and  papers,  which  served  to  explain 
the  value  of  the  property,  and  the  amount  of  the  income  de 
rived  from  it.  But  the  final  adjustment  appears  to  have  been 
different  from  that  adopted  by  the  government  in  common 
claims,  since,  instead  of  granting  a  stipulated  sum,  a  settlement 
with  the  Penns  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Pitt,  which  gave  to  them 
and  their  heirs  an  annuity  of  £4000.  His  recommendation  to 
Parliament  was,  to  grant  £3000  per  annum  to  John  Penn, 
Esquire,  of  Stoke  Regis,  in  the  County  of  Bucks,  the  son  of 
the  elder  branch,  and  £1000  per  annum  to  John  Penn,  Esquire, 
of  Wimpole  street,  the  son  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  fam 
ily,  "to  be  considered  as  real  estate,  and  issuing  out  of  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS,  517 

County  of  Middlesex ; "  and  this  plan  was  executed  by  an  act 
during  the  year  1790. 

In  addition  to  £4000  annuity  thus  secured  to  the  two  John 
Penns,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  made  a  liberal  provision  for 
others  of  the  lineage  and  name,  "  in  remembrance  of  the  en 
terprising  spirit  of  the  founder,"  and  "  of  the  expectations  and 
dependence  of  his  descendants;  "  and  " enacted,  that  the  sum 
of  £130,000  should  be  paid  to  the  devisees  and  legatees  of 
Thomas  Penn  and  Richard  Penn,  late  proprietaries,  and  to  the 
widow  and  relict  of  Thomas  Penn,  in  just  and  equitable  pro 
portions  by  installment;  the  first  payment  to  be  made  at  the 
expiration  of  one  year  after  the  termination  of  the  war." 
This  large  sum,  the  annuity  of  Parliament,  the  provision  to 
secure  (in  the  confiscation  act)  to  the  different  members  of  the 
family  their  private  lands,  estates,  and  hereditaments,  as  above 
mentioned,  together  with  the  offices  which  were  subsequently 
conferred,  formed  a  very  large  remuneration ;  and  probably 
placed  the  Penns  in  a  condition  quite  as  independent  as  that 
which  they  enjoyed  previous  to  the  Revolution.  But  if  they 
were  actually  losers,  it  is  still  to  be  remembered,  that  without  a 
separation  of  the  Colonies  from  England,  some  change  in  the 
tenure  and  value  of  their  property  must  soon  have  happened. 
Their  rights,  as  secured  by  the  original  grant,  were  opposed  to 
the  spirit  of  the  time,  and  to  the  progress  in  American  soci 
ety;  and  men  would  have  been  found  who,  like  Franklin, 
would  have  demanded  concessions,  and  have  continued  their 
endeavors  until  concessions  were  obtained.  But  yet  the  events 
which  extinguished  the  rights  and  terminated  the  influence  01 
the  Penns,  the  Fairfaxes,  Johnsons,  Phillipses,  Robinsons,  Pep- 
perells,  and  other  large  landholders,  and  which  committed  the 
destinies  of  the  New  World  to  new  families,  produced  a  ruin 
ous  change  in  the  political  fortunes  and  prospects  of  the  old 
families,  who,  up  to  the  hour  of  the  dismemberment  of  the 
empire,  had  been  but  little  less  than  hereditary  colonial  noble 
men,  and  viceroys  of  boundless  domains.  Governor  John 
Penn  died  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1795.  His  re 
mains,  some  time  after  his  decease,  were  removed  to  England. 
44 


518  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

PENN,  RICHARD.  Brother  of  John  Perm,  and  himself  a 
governor  of  Pennsylvania  from  1771  to  1773.  Unlike  John, 
who  succeeded  him,  he  did  have  some  connexion  and  inter 
course  with  the  members  of  Congress.  For  Mr.  Caesar  Rod 
ney  wrote  to  Thomas  Rodney  from  Philadelphia,  September  24, 
1774,  that  "  Mr.  R.  Penn  is  a  great  friend  to  liberty,  and  has 
treated  the  gentlemen  Delegates  with  the  greatest  respect. 
More  or  less  of  them  dine  with  him  every  day.  *  *  *  All 
these  matters  are  for  your  own  private  speculation,  and  not 
for  the  public  view."  From  Washington's  journal,  it  appears 
that  he  was  a  guest  at  Mr.  Penn's  table.  The  liberal  course 
of  Richard  seems  to  have  won  general  confidence  ;  and  when 
in  1775  he  embarked  for  England,  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
care  of  the  second  Petition  of  the  Continental  Congress  to  the 
King.  After  his  arrival  at  London,  he  was  examined  in  the 
House  of  Lords  as  to  American  affairs,  and  expressed  the 
opinion,  that  "  a  majority  of  the  people  were  not  for  indepen 
dency."  While  John  Penn  was  governor,  Richard  was  a 
member  of  his  Council,  and  naval  officer  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  a  salary  of  £600.  As  governor,  Richard  was  very  pop 
ular.  He  was  ua  fine,  portly  looking  man."  He  died  in  Eng 
land  in  1811,  aged  seventy-seven. 

PENNINGTON,  EDWARD.  An  eminent  merchant  of  Philadel 
phia.  In  1774  he  was  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Com 
mittee  of  Correspondence,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Convention. 
But  in  1777,  "for  being  inimical  to  the  Whig  cause,"  he  was 
ordered  to  be  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia.  The  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Penriiugton  were  family  connexions  of  William  Penn's  first 
wife. 

PENSIL, .  Was  engaged  in  the  Massacre  at  Wyoming. 

A  brother,  who  was  a  Whig,  sought  refuge  in  a  cluster  of  wil 
lows,  and  claimed  his  mercy.  Deaf  to  the  appeal,  the  Loyal 
ist  instantly  shot  the  other  dead  —  exclaiming,  as  he  raised 
his  gun, —  "  Mighty  well,  you  damned  rebel." 

PENTON,  GEORGE.  Chaplain  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Amer 
ican  Volunteers. 

PEPPERELL,    SIR  WILLIAM,    BARONET.      Of    Kittery,    Maine. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS, 


519 


Among  the  men  of  Cornwall  who  came  to  America,  was  Wil 
liam  Pepperell,  who  settled  at  the  Isle  of  Shoals  about  the  year 
1676,  became  a  fisherman,  acquired  property,  and  removed  to 
Kittery,  where  he  died  in  1734,  leaving  an  only  son  of  his 
own  name,  who  continued  the  business  of  fishing,  amassed 
great  wealth,  and  arrived  at  great  honors.  The  second  Wil 
liam  Pepperell  was  born  in  1696  at  Kittery,  and  when  about 
the  age  of  thirty-three,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Massachusetts,  and  held  a  seat  in  that  body  by  annual 
election  for  thirty-two  years,  until  his  death.  He  was  also 
selected  to  command  a  regiment  of  militia,  and  being  fond 
of  society,  and  the  life  and  spirit  of  every  company,  rich  and 
prosperous,  was  highly  popular,  and  possessed  much  influence. 
Indeed,  Colonel  Pepperell  was  a  man  of  distinguished  consider 
ation  in  all  respects,  and  the  leading  personage  of  Maine.  His 
political  connexions,  and  his  ample  estate,  gave  him  access 
to  the  best  circles  of  the  capital ;  and  his  business  relations 
required  him  to  mingle  with  all  classes  of  people  who  lived  on 
the  Piscataqua  and  the  Saco.  He  owned  lands  on  both  of  these 
rivers,  where  he  erected  mills  and  engaged  in  lumbering,  and 
he  employed  hundreds  of  men  annually  in  fishing  in  the  waters 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht,  which  secured  the  former  Colony  to 
the  British  crown,  gave  France  undisputed  right  to  the  latter, 
and  the  French  founded  and  built  upon  it  the  city  of  Louis- 
burg,  at  enormous  cost,  and  protected  it  with  fortresses  of 
great  strength.  The  walls  of  the  defences  were  formed  with 
bricks  brought  from  France,  and  they  mounted  two  hun 
dred  and  six  pieces  of  cannon.  The  city  had  nunneries  and 
palaces,  gardens,  squares,  and  places  of  amusement,  and  was 
designed  to  become  a  great  capital,  and  to  perpetuate  French 
dominion  and  the  Catholic  faith  in  America.  Twenty-five 
years  of  time,  and  thirty  million  of  livres  in  money  were 
spent  in  building,  arming,  and  adorning  this  city,  "  the  Dun 
kirk  of  the  New  World."  That  such  a  place  existed  at  so 
early  a  period  of  our  history,  is  a  marvel ;  arid  the  lovers  of 
the  wonderful  may  read  the  works  which  contain  accounts  of 


520  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

its  rise  and  ruin,  and  be  satisfied  that  "truth  is  sometimes 
stranger  than  fiction."  Louisburg  soon  became  a  source  of 
vexation  to  the  fishermen  who  visited  the  adjacent  seas,  and 
its  capture  was  finally  seriously  conceived,  and  undertaken. 
Governor  Shirley,  in  1744,  listening  to  the  propositions  made  to 
him  on  the  subject,  submitted  them  to  the  legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  that  body  in  secret  session,  (the  first  ever  held  in 
America,)  and  by  a  casting  vote,  authorized  a  force  to  be 
raised,  equipped,  and  sent  against  it.  Other  New  England 
Colonies  joined  in  the  enterprise,  and  the  command  was  con 
ferred  upon  Colonel  Pepperell.  His  troops  consisted  of  a  mot 
ley  assemblage  of  fishermen  and  farmers,  sawyers  and  loggers, 
many  of  whom  were  taken  from  his  own  vessels,  mills,  and 
forests.  Before  such  men,  and  before  others  hardly  better 
skilled  in  war,  in  the  year  1745  Louisburg  fell.  The  achieve 
ment  is  the  most  memorable  in  our  Colonial  annals.  Yaughan, 
a  son  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  who 
was  second  in  command,  who  conducted  extensive  fisheries, 
and  who  claimed  the  merit  of  conceiving  the  expedition  upon 
the  representations  of  his  fishermen,  who  had  ascertained  the 
weak  points  of  the  defences,  died  without  reward,  while 
in  England,  pressing  his  claims  to  consideration ;  but  Colonel 
Pepperell  was  created  a  Baronet  in  1746,*  and  was  the  only 
native  of  New  England  who  received  that  honor  during  the 
whole  period  of  our  connexion  with  Great  Britain. 

After  the  fall  of  Louisburg,  Pepperell  went  to  England,  and 
was  presented  at  Court.  In  1759  he  was  appointed  Lieu 
tenant  General ;  he  died  the  same  year  at  his  seat  at  Kittery, 
aged  sixty-three  years.  His  children  were  two,  Andrew,  a 
son,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1743,  and  who 
died  under  the  most  distressing  circumstances  in  1751,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five;  and  a  daughter,  Elisabeth,  who  married 
Colonel  Nathaniel  Sparhawk.  Lady  Pepperell,  who  was 
Mary  Hirst,  daughter  of  Grove  Hirst,  of  Boston,  and  grand 
daughter  of  Judge  Sewell,  of  Massachusetts,  survived  until 

*  He  received  the  arms,  crest,  and  motto  of  "  Peperi." 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  521 

1789.  Mrs.  Sparhawk  bore  her  husband  five  children ; 
namely,  Nathaniel,  William  Pepperell,  Samuel  Hirst,  Andrew 
Pepperell,  and  Mary  Pepperell.  Sir  William,  her  father,  soon 
after  the  decease  of  her  brother,  executed  a  will  by  which, 
after  providing  for  Lady  Pepperell,  he  bequeathed  the  bulk  of 
his  remaining  property  to  herself  and  her  children.  Her 
second  son  was  made  the  residuary  legatee,  and  inherited  a 
large  estate.  By  the  terms  of  his  grandfather's  will,  he  was 
required  to  procure  an  act  of  the  legislature  to  drop  the  name 
of  Sparhawk,  and  assume  that  of  Pepperell.  This  he  did  on 
coming  of  age,  and  was  allowed,  by  a  subsequent  act,  to  take 
the  title  of  Sir  William  Pepperell,  Baronet. 

The  second  Sir  William,  of  whom  we  are  now  to  speak, 
received  the  honors  of  Harvard  University  in  1766;  subsequent 
ly  he  visited  England,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Massachusetts.  In  1774,  when  that  body  was  re-organized 
under  the  Act  of  Parliament,  he  was  continued  under  the 
mandamus  of  the  king,  and  incurred  the  odium  which  was 
visited  upon  all  the  councillors  who  were  thus  appointed 
contrary  to  the  charter.  The  people  of  his  own  county 
passed  the  following  resolution  in  convention,  in  November 
of  1774 

"  Resolved,  — Whereas  the  late  Sir  William  Pepperell,  Bar 
onet,  deceased,  well  known,  honored  and  respected  in  Great 
Britain  and  America  for  his  eminent  service  in  his  life-time, 
did  honestly  acquire  a  large  and  extensive  real  estate  in 
this  country,  and  gave  the  highest  evidence  not  only  of  his 
being  a  sincere  friend  to  the  rights  of  man  in  general,  but  of 
having  a  paternal  love  to  this  country  in  particular;  and 
whereas  the  said  Sir  William,  by  his  last  will  and  testament, 
made  his  grandson,  the  present  William  Pepperell,  Esquire, 
residuary  legatee  and  possessor  of  the  greatest  part  of  said 
estate ;  and  the  said  William  Pepperell,  Esquire,  hath,  with 
purpose  to  carry  into  force  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  made 
with  apparent  design  to  enslave  the  free  and  loyal  people  of 
this  continent,  accepted  and  now  holds  a  seat  in  the  pretended 
Board  of  Councillors  in  this  Province,  as  well  in  direct  repeal 
44* 


522  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  the  charter  thereof,  as  against  the  solemn  compact  of  kings 
and  the  inherent  rights  of  the  people.  It  is  therefore,  Resolved, 
that  said  William  Pepperell,  Esquire,  hath  thereby  justly  for 
feited  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  all  true  friends  to 
American  liberty,  and,  with  other  pretended  councillors  now 
holding  their  seats  in  like  manner,  ought  to  be  detested  by 
all  good  men ;  and  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  the  good 
people  of  this  County,  that  as  soon  as  the  present  leases 
made  to  any  of  them  by  said  Pepperell  are  expired,  they  im 
mediately  withdraw  all  connection,  commerce,  and  dealings 
from  him  —  and  that  they  take  no  further  lease  or  conveyance 
of  his  farms,  mills,  or  appurtenances  thereunto  belonging, 
(where  the  said  Pepperell  is  the  sole  receiver  and  appropriator 
of  the  rents  and  profits),  until  he  shall  resign  his  seat  pretend- 
edly  occupied  by  mandamus.  And  if  any  persons  shall  remain 
or  become  his  tenants  after  the  expiration  of  their  present  leases, 
we  recommend  to  the  good  people  of  this  County  not  only  to 
withdraw  all  connexion  and  commercial  intercourse  with 
them,  but  to  treat  them  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  third 
resolve  of  this  Congress." 

The  Baronet,  not  long  after,  thus  denounced  by  his  neighbors 
and  the  friends  of  his  family,  retired  to  Boston.  In  1775  he 
arrived  in  England  under  circumstances  of  deep  affliction  j 
Lady  Pepperell,  who  was  Elisabeth,  daughter  of  Honorable 
Isaac  Royall,  of  Medford,  Massachusetts,  having  died  on  the 
passage.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished ;  and  the 
year  following  was  included  in  the  conspiracy  act.  He  is 
recognized  by  his  title  in  both  statutes,  and  under  the  latter, 
his  vast  landed  estate  in  Maine,  though  entailed  upon  his  heirs, 
was  confiscated.  This  estate  extended  from  Kittery  to  Saco 
on  the  coast,  and  many  miles  back  from  the  shore ;  and  for 
the  purposes  of  farming  and  lumbering,  was  of  great  value ; 
and  the  water-power  and  mill-privileges,  rendered  it,  even  at 
the  time  of  the  sequestration,  a  princely  fortune.  The  princi 
ples  which  applied  in  the  case  of  the  Morris  *  heirs  would 

*  See  notice  of  Roger  Morris. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  523 

seem  to  apply  here,  and  thus  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  legality 
of  the  confiscation  act,  as  far  as  the  remainder  or  reversionary 
interest  of  the  heirs  of  the  first  Sir  William  were  concerned ; 
since  it  is  apparently  clear,  that  the  •  life  interest  of  the  second 
Sir  William  could  only  be,  or  by  the  statute  actually  was, 
diverted  and  passed  to  the  State.  But  however  this  may  be, 
the  confiscation  was  total ;  and  so  utter  became  the  poverty  of 
the  last  survivors  of  the  family,  that  they  were  literally 
saved  from  the  alms-house  by  the  charity  of  individuals  who 
commiserated  their  fallen  condition.  During  the  Revolution 
the  Baronet  was  treated  with  great  respect  and  deference  by 
his  fellow  exiles  in  England.  His  house  in  London  was  open 
for  their  reception,  and  in  most  cases  in  which  the  Loyalists 
from  New  England  united  in  representations  to  the  ministry 
or  to  the  throne,  he  was  their  chairman  or  deputed  organ 
of  communication.  He  was  allowed  £500  sterling  per  annum, 
by  the  British  government,  and  this  stipend,  with  the  wreck 
of  his  fortune,  consisting  of  personal  effects,  rendered  his 
situation  comfortable,  and  enabled  him  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  the  less  fortunate.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered  to  his 
praise,  and  to  be  recorded  in  respect  for  his  memory,  that  his 
pecuniary  benefactions  were  not  confined  to  his  countrymen 
who  were  in  banishment  for  their  adherence  to  the  crown, 
but  were  extended  to  Whigs  who  languished  in  England  in 
captivity.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  too,  that  his  private  life 
was  irreproachable,  and  that  he  was  among  the  founders  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  In  1779  the  Loyal 
ists  then  in  London  formed  an  Association,  and  Sir  William 
was  appointed  President.  As  a  matter  of  curious  history, 
the  proceedings  of  this  body  may  not  be  unworthy  of  preser 
vation.  The  account  which  follows,  is  derived  from  a  manu 
script  record  in  the  possession  of  a  friend. 

The  first  meeting  was  at  Spring  Garden  Coffee  House,  May 
29,  1779,  and  the  Baronet  occupied  the  Chair.  This  was 
merely  preliminary,  and  a  Resolution  to  hold  a  general  meeting 
at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  in  the  Strand,  on  the  26th  of  the 
same  month,  "  to  consider  of  measures  proper  to  be  taken  for 


524  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

their  interest  and  reputation  in  the  present  conjuncture,"  was 
the  only  business  of  moment  which  was  transacted.  About 
ninety  persons  met  at  the  place  and  time  designated ;  when  a 
committee  composed  of  Loyalists  from  each  Colony  was 
appointed,  "  to  consider  of  the  proper  measures  to  be  pursued 
on  the  matters,  which  have  been  proposed  relative  to  the 
affairs  of  the  British  Colonies  in  North  America,  and  to  pre 
pare  anything  relative  thereto,  and  make  report  at  the  next 
meeting,  to  be  called  as  soon  as  ready." 

This  committee,  accordingly,  reported  an  Address  to  the 
king,  which  was  taken  up  on  the  6th  of  July,  and  which, 
having  been  read  "paragraph  by  paragraph,  and  debated,  was 
agreed  on."  In  this  document  it  is  said,  that,  "  notwithstand 
ing  your  Majesty's  arms  have  not  been  attended  with  all  the 
effect  which  those  exertions  promised,  and  from  which  occa 
sion  has  been  taken  to  raise  an  indiscriminate  charge  of  dis 
affection  in  the  Colonists,*  we  beg  leave,  some  of  us  from  our 
own  knowledge,  and  others  from  the  best  information,  to 
assure  your  Majesty,  that  the  greater  number  of  your  subjects 
in  the  confederated  Colonies,  notwithstanding  every  art  to 
seduce,  every  device  to  intimidate,  and  a  variety  of  oppres 
sions  to  compel  them  to  abjure  their  sovereign,  entertain  the 
firmest  attachment  and  allegiance  to  your  Majesty's  sacred 
person  and  government.  In  support  of  those  truths,  we  need 
not  appeal  to  the  evidence  of  our  own  sufferings ;  it  is  notori-  ^ 
ous,  that  we  have  sacrificed  all  which  the  most  loyal  sub 
jects  could  forego,  or  the  happiest  could  possess.  But  with 
confidence,  we  appeal  to  the  struggles  made  against  the  usur 
pations  of  Congress,  by  Counter  Resolves  in  very  large  districts 
of  country,  and  to  the  many  unsuccessful  attempts  by  bodies 
of  the  loyal  in  arms,  which  have  subjected  them  to  all  the 
rigors  of  inflamed  resentment;  we  appeal  to  the  sufferings 


*  It  will  be  remembered,  that  at  this  time  the  royal  cause  wore  an  un 
promising  aspect ;  Burgoyne  had  surrendered,  and  France  had  formed  an  alli 
ance  with  the  Whigs,  arid  the  allusions  of  the  Address  were  probably  to 
these  circumstances. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  525 

of  multitudes,  who  for  their  Loyalty  have  been  subjected  to 
insults,  fines,  and  imprisonments,  patiently  enduring  all  in  the 
expectation  of  that  period,  which  shall  restore  to  them  the 
blessings  of  your  Majesty's  government ;  we  appeal  to  the 
thousands  now  serving  in  your  Majesty's  armies,  and  in  pri 
vate  ships  of  war,  the  former  exceeding  in  number  the  troops 
enlisted  to  oppose  them;  finally,  we  make  a  melancholy 
appeal  to  the  many  families  who  have  been  banished  from 
their  once  peaceful  habitations ;  to  the  public  forfeiture  of  a 
long  list  of  estates ;  and  to  the  numerous  executions  of  our 
fellow  citizens,  who  have  sealed  their  loyalty  with  their  blood. 
If  any  Colony  or  District,  when  covered  or  possessed  by  your 
Majesty's  troops  had  been  called  upon  to  take  arms,  and  had 
refused  ;  or,  if  any  attempts  had  been  made  to  form  the  Loy 
alist  militia,  or  otherwise,  and  it  had  been  declined,  we 
should  not  on  this  occasion  have  presumed  thus  to  address 
your  Majesty ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  no  general  measure  to 
the  above  effect  was  attempted,  if  petitions  from  bodies  of 
your  Majesty's  subjects,  who  wished  to  rise  in  aid  of  govern 
ment,  have  been  neglected,  and  the  representations  of  the 
most  respectable  Loyalists  disregarded,  we  assure  ourselves, 
that  the  equity  and  wisdom  of  your  Majesty's  mind  will  not 
admit  of  any  impressions  injurious  to  the  honor  and  Loyalty 
of  your  faithful  subjects  in  those  Colonies." 

Sir  William  Pepperell,  Messrs.  Fitch,  Leonard,  Rome,  Ste 
vens,  Patterson,  Galloway,  Lloyd  Dulaney,  Chalmers,  Ran 
dolph,  Macknight,  Ingram,  and  Doctor  Chandler,  composing  a 
committee  of  thirteen,  were  appointed  to  present  this  address. 
At  the  same  meeting  it  was  resolved,  "  That  it  be  recom 
mended  to  the  General  Meeting  to  appoint  a  Committee,  with 
directions  to  manage  all  such  public  matters  as  shall  appear 
for  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  Loyal  in  the  Colonies,  or  who 
have  taken  refuge  from  America  in  this  country,  with  power 
to  call  General  Meetings,  to  whom  they  shall  from  time  to 
time  report."  Of  this  committee,  Sir  Egerton  Leigh,  of  South 
Carolina,  was  chairman.  This  body  was  soon  organized.  On 
the  26th  of  July,  Mr.  Galloway  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  a 


526  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

member  of  it,  reported  rules  for  its  government,  which,  after 
being  read  and  debated,  were  adopted.  The  proceedings  of 
this  committee  do  not  appear  to  have  been  very  important ; 
indeed,  to  meet  and  sympathize  with  one  another,  was  proba 
bly  their  chief  employment.  On  the  2d  of  August,  it  was, 
however, 

Resolved,  "  That  each  member  of  the  Committee  be  desired 
to  prepare  a  brief  account  of  such  documents,  facts,  and  infor 
mations,  as  he  hath  in  his  power,  or  can  obtain,  relating 
to  the  rise,  progress,  and  present  state  of  the  rebellion  in 
America,  and  the  causes  which  have  prevented  its  being  sup-, 
pressed,  with  short  narratives  of  their  own,  stating  their  facts, 
with  their  remarks  thereon,  or  such  observations  as  may  occur 
to  them ;  each  gentleman  attending  more  particularly  to  the 
Colony  to  which  he  belongs,  and  referring  to  his  document 
for  the  support  of  each  fact."  This  resolution  was  followed 
by  another,  having  for  its  design  to  unite  with  them  the  Loy 
alists  who  remained  in  America,  in  these  terms  :  — 

Resolved,  "That  circular  letters  be  transmitted  from  the 
committee  to  the  principal  gentlemen  from  the  different  Colo 
nies  at  New  York,  informing  them  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
General  Meeting,  the  appointment  and  purposes  of  this  stand 
ing  Committee,  and  requesting  their  co-operation  and  corres 
pondence." 

August  11,  1779,  at  a  meeting  of  the  committee,  report  was 
made,  that  General  Robertson  had  been  "  so  obliging  as  to 
undertake  the  trouble  of  communicating  to  our  brethren  in 
New  York,  our  wishes  to  have  an  institution  established  there 
on  similar  principles  to  our  own,  for  the  purpose  of  correspond 
ing  with  us  on  matters  relative  to  the  public  interests  of 
British  America."  Whereupon  it  was  resolved,  that  in  place 
of  the  circular  letter  resolved  upon  on  the  2d,  "a  letter  to 
General  Robertson,  explanatory  of  our  designs  and  wishes, 
and  entreating  his  good  offices  to  the  furtherance  of  an  estab 
lishment  of  a  committee  at  New  York,  be  drawn  up  and 
transmitted."  At  the  same  meeting  (August  llth)  Sir  Wil 
liam  Pepperell  stated,  that  Lord  George  Germaine  had  been 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  527 

apprized  of  the  proceedings  of  the  "  Loyalists  for  considering 
of  American  aifairs  in  so  far  as  their  interests  were  concerned, 
and  that  his  Lordship  had  been  pleased  to  declare  his  entire 
approbation  of  their  institution."  The  framing  of  the  letter 
to  General  Robertson  above  mentioned,  seems  to  have  been, 
now,  the  only  affair  of  moment,  which,  by  the  record,  occu 
pied  the  attention  of  the  Association.  It  may  be  remarked, 
however,  that  agreeably  to  the  recommendation  above  stated, 
a  Board  of  Loyalists  was  organized  at  New  York,  composed 
of  delegates  from  each  Colony.  Another  body,  of  which  the 
Baronet  was  the  President,  was  the  Board  of  Agents  consti 
tuted  after  the  peace,  to  prosecute  the  claims  of  Loyalists  to 
compensation  for  their  losses  by  the  war,  and  under  the  con 
fiscation  acts  of  the  several  States.  Sir  James  Wright,  of 
Georgia,  was  first  elected,  but  at  his  decease,  Sir  William 
was  selected  as  his  successor,  and  continued  in  office  until  the 
commissioners  made  their  final  report,  and  the  commission  was 
dissolved.  Sir  William's  own  claim  was  of  difficult  adjust 
ment,  and  occupied  the  attention  of  the  commissioners  several 
days.  In  1788,  and  after  Mr.  Pitt's  plan  had  received  the 
sanction  of  parliament,  the  Board  of  Agents  presented  an 
Address  of  thanks  to  the  king  for  the  liberal  provision  made 
for  themselves  and  the  persons  whom  they  represented,  which 
was  presented  to  his  Majesty  by  the  Baronet.  On  this  occa 
sion,  he  and  the  other  Agents  were  admitted  to  the  presence, 
and  "  all  had  the  honor  to  kiss  his  majesty's  hand."  As  this 
Address  contains  no  matter  of  historical  interest,  it  is  not  here 
inserted.  But  some  mention  may  be  made  of  West's  picture, 
the  "  Reception  of  the  American  Loyalists  by  Great  Britain  in 
1783,"  of  which  an  engraving  is  before  me.  The  Baronet  is 
the  prominent  personage  represented,  and  appears  in  a  volu 
minous  wig,  a  flowing  gown,  in  advance  of  the  other  figures, 
with  one  hand  extended  and  nearly  touching  the  crown  which 
lies  on  a  velvet  cushion  on  a  table,  and  holding  in  the  other 
hand  at  his  side,  a  scroll  or  manuscript  half  unrolled. 

The  full  representation  of  this  picture  is  as  follows  :  —  "  Re 
ligion  and  Justice   are   represented   extending  the   mantle  of 


528  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Britannia,  whilst  she  herself  is  holding  out  her  arm  and  shield 
to  receive  the  Loyalists.  Under  the  shield  is  the  Crown  of 
Great  Britain,  surrounded  by  Loyalists.  This  group  of  figures 
consists  of  various  characters,  representing  the  Law,  the 
Church,  and  the  Government,  with  other  inhabitants  of  North 
America;  and  as  a  marked  characteristic  of  that  quarter  of 
the  globe,  an  Indian  Chief  extending  one  hand  to  Britannia, 
and  pointing  the  other  to  a  Widow  and  Orphans,  rendered  so 
by  the  civil  war ;  also,  a  Negro  and  Children  looking  up  to 
Britannia  in  grateful  remembrance  of  their  emancipation  from 
Slavery.  In  a  Cloud,  on  which  Religion  and  Justice  rest,  are 
seen  in  an  opening  glory  the  Genii  of  Great  Britain  and  of 
America,  binding  up  the  broken  fasces  of  the  two  countries, 
as  emblematical  of  the  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship  between 
them.  At  the  head  of  the  group  of  Loyalists  are  likenesses  of 
Sir  William  Pepperell,  Baronet,  one  of  the  Chairmen  of  their 
Agents  to  the  Crown  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain ;  and 
William  Franklin,  Esquire,  son  of  Doctor  Benjamin  Franklin, 
who,  having  his  Majesty's  commission  of  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  preserved  his  fidelity  and  Loyalty  to  his  Sovereign 
from  the  commencement  to  the  conclusion  of  the  contest,  not 
withstanding  powerful  incitements  to  the  contrary.  The  two 
figures  on  the  right  hand  are  the  painter,  Mr.  West,  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  his  Lady,  both  natives  of 
Philadelphia."* 

Sir  William  continued  in  England  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  died  in  Portman  Square,  London,  in  December, 
1816,  aged  seventy.  William,  his  only  son,  deceased  in  1809. 
The  baronetcy  was  inherited  by  no  other  member  of  the  fam 
ily,  and  became  extinct.  His  daughters  were  Elisabeth,  who 
married  the  Reverend  Henry  Hutton,  of  London  ;  Mary,  the 
wife  of  Sir  William  Congreve ;  and  Harriet,  the  wife  of  Sir 
Charles  Thomas  Palmer,  Baronet.  The  Pepperell  mansion- 

*  Mr.  West  was  not  born  in  Philadelphia,  but  in  Springfield,  Pennsyl 
vania;  Moses,  the  engraver,  was  mistaken.  Mrs.  West  was  Elizabeth 
Shewell. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS. 


529 


house,  at  Kittery,  is  still  standing.  It  is  plain,  but  very  large, 
and  contains  several  rooms,  some  of  which  are  spacious.  It 
is  near  the  sea,  and  lately  passed  into  the  hands  of  fishermen, 
at  a  very  low  price,  and  is  occupied  by  a  number  of  families. 
The  tomb,  which  was  erected  in  1734,  is  near ;  and  when 
entered  by  a  visiter  a  few  years  since,  contained  little  else 
than  bones  strewed  in  confusion  about  its  muddy  bottom. 
Among  them  were,  of  course,  all  that  remains  of  the  victor  of 
Louisburg,  who  was  deposited  in  it  at  his  decease  in  1759. 
His  papers,  (or  many  of  them)  not  long  ago,  were  seen  in  a 
building  which  had  insecure  fastenings,  and  packed  in  dis 
order  in  open  casks  and  boxes. 

PERANNEAR,  HENRY.  Was  banished,  and  his  property  con 
fiscated.  In  1794  his  executor,  Robert  Cooper;  in  a  memorial 
dated  at  London,  stated  to  the  British  government,  that  several 
large  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the  time  of  his  banish 
ment  were  unpaid,  and  interposition  and  interference  were 
desired  to  recover  them. 

PERCY,  EZRA.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

PERKINS,  AZARIAH.  Died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick, 
1825,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

PERKINS,  JAMES.  Of  Boston.  In  1760  he  was  one  of  the 
fifty-eight  Boston  memorialists,  who  were  the  first  men  in 
America  to  array  themselves  against  the  officers  of  the  crown  : 
but  in  1774  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  and  a  Pro 
tester  against  the  Whigs  ;  and  in  1775  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

PERKINS,  HOUGHTON.  Of  Boston.  He  went  to  Halifax,  and 
died  there  in  1778. 

PERKINS,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Gage  on 
his  arrival  in  1774.  He  went  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation  in 
1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

PERKINS,  WILLIAM  LEE.  Physician,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  was  in  England,  it  is  be 
lieved,  in  1781. 

PERONNEAU,  ROBERT.     Of  South  Carolina.     A  Congratulator 
45 


530  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in  1780.  In  1782  his 
estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  banished. 

PERRY,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Died  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1803. 

PERRY,  MERVIN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Was  a  loyal 
Declarator  in  1775.  During  the  war,  there  was  a  privateer 
manned  by  Loyalists  and  commanded  by  a  Captain  Perry, 
who  was  taken  prisoner  in  1781. 

PERRY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  1780. 

PERRY,  SAMUEL,  STEPHEN,  THOMAS,  SILAS,  and  SETH.  Of  Sand 
wich,  Massachusetts.  Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 
Of  these,  the  first  three  had  previously  joined  the  royal  forces 
at  Rhode  Island ;  and  Seth  had  been  imprisoned  at  Sandwich ; 
while  Samuel,  junior,  accompanied  his  father  to  Rhode  Island 
in  1777. 

PERRY,  TIMOTHY.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  member  of 
the  Loyal  Artillery,  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1795. 

PERRY,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  Was  a  Protester  in  1774,  an 
Addresser  the  same  year,  and  again  in  1775. 

PERTIE,  PETER.  Of  Durham,  Pennsylvania.  In  Council,  in 
1778,  it  was  ordered,  that,  failing  to  surrender  and  be  tried  for 
treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

PETERS,  CHARLES.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick. 

PETERS,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  fifty- 
five  petitioners.  See  Abijah  Willard.  He  settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  was  one  of  the  agents  to  locate  lands  granted 
to  the  Loyalists,  who  removed  to  that  Colony.  Of  the  city  of 
St.  John  he  was  a  grantee.  In  1792  he  was  a  magistrate  of 
Queen's  County.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assem 
bly  for  a  long  period.  He  died  at  his  seat  in  Gage  town,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1820,  aged  seventy-five.  His  son,  the  Honor 
able  Charles  J.  Peters,  is  the  present  attorney-general  of  New 
Brunswick. 

PETERS,  HARRY.  Son  of  James  Peters.  He  was  at  New 
York  in  July,  1783,  and  was  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  531 

See  Abijah  Willard.     He  went  to  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Council. 

PETERS,  HULET.  Clerk  of  the  town  of  Hempstead,  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  In  April,  1775,  he  certified  to  the  pro 
ceedings  of  "the  most  numerous  Town-Meeting  that  had  been 
held  there  for  many  years  past."  The  Resolutions  —  six  in 
number  —  appear  to  have  been  adopted  with  great  unanimity  ; 
they  are  very  loyal  in  their  tone,  and  unsparing  in  censures  of 
the  course  of  the  Whigs. 

PETERS,  SAMUEL,  D.  D.  An  Episcopal  clergyman.  Was 
born  at  Hebron,  Connecticut,  in  1735,  and  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1757.  In  1762  he  took  charge  of  the  churches  at 
Hebron  and  Hartford ;  and  was  dismissed  in  1774.  His  loyal 
conduct,  and  his  imprudence,  involved  him  in  many  difficulties ; 
and  perhaps  no  minister  of  the  time  was  more  obnoxious.  He 
was  charged  with  making  false  representations  to  his  corres 
pondents  in  England,  and  various  acts  of  a  similar  nature. 
To  answer  these  accusations  he  signed  the  following  declara 
tion,  in  August,  1774.  "I,  the  subscriber,  have  not  sent  any 
letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  or  the  venerable  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  &c.,  relative  to  the  Boston  Port  Bill, 
or  the  Tea  affair,  or  the  Controversy  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  Colonies,  and  design  not  to,  during  my  natural  life,  as  these 
controversies  are  out  of  my  business  as  a  clergyman ;  also,  I 
have  not  wrote  to  England  to  any  other  gentleman  or  designed 
Company,  nor  will  I  do  it.  Witness  my  hand,"  &c. 

This  paper  was  extorted  from  him  by  about  three  hundred 
persons,  who  assembled  at  his  house;  some  of  whom,  in  charg 
ing  him  with  his  offences,  threatened  him  with  a  coat  of  tar 
and  feathers.  They  demanded  to  see  copies  of  all  his  letters, 
and  of  the  articles  which  he  had  sent  to  the  newspapers  for 
publication ;  and  they  obtained  a  copy  of  certain  Resolves, 
which  he  confessed  he  had  composed  for  the  press.  These 
Resolves  are  thirteen  in  number,  and  relate,  principally,  to  the 
Tea  question.  They  are  not  temperate,  and  contain  some 
allusions,  which  might  well  create  ill  feeling  among  the  Whigs; 
arid  their  publication  produced  new  difficulties.  In  September, 


532        .  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

he  was  again  visited  by  the  people,  who  made  known  their 
determination  to  obtain  retraction  and  satisfaction.  He  en 
deavored  to  reason  with  a  committee  of  their  number,  and  to 
justify  his  conduct,  and  the  principles  of  the  offensive  resolves. 
The  committee,  after  listening  awhile,  told  him  that  they  did 
not  come  to  dispute  with  him,  and  advised  that  he  should  go 
out  and  address  the  body  without,  who  surrounded  his  house, 
and  promised  him  that  he  should  return  unharmed.  He  com 
plied,  and  placing  himself  in  the  midst  of  the  multitude,  com 
menced  an  harangue,  which  was  disturbed  by  the  discharge  of 
a  gun  in  his  house.  It  is  said  that  Doctor  Peters  had  assured 
the  committee  no  arms  were  in  his  dwelling,  except  one  or 
two  old  guns,  which  were  out  of  repair ;  but  on  searching  it, 
several  guns  and  pistols,  loaded  with  powder  and  ball,  some 
swords,  and  about  two  dozen  large  wooden  clubs,  were  found 
concealed ;  but  he  was  still  allowed  to  finish  his  address,  and  to 
retire  without  molestation,  as  had  been  promised  to  him.  Yet 
it  was  insisted,  that  he  should  draw  up  and  sign  another  decla 
ration.  He  completed  a  paper  of  this  description,  which  was 
rejected.  He  was  then  urged  by  the  committee  to  affix  his 
name  to  another,  framed  by  themselves.  This  he  declined  to 
do ;  and  while  in  conversation  on  the  subject,  the  mass,  impa 
tient  of  delay,  and  weary  and  hungry,  rushed  into  the  house 
by  the  door  and  one  window,  and  seizing  the  Doctor,  bore  him 
to  a  horse  and  carried  him  to  the  Meeting-house  Green,  or 
parade-ground,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  distant,  and  compelled 
his  acquiescence.  Having  signed  the  paper  prepared  by  the  com 
mittee,  he  read  it  to  the  people  himself;  when  they  gave  three 
cheers  and  dispersed.  During  the  affair,  his  gown  and  shirt 
were  torn,  one  sash  was  somewhat  shattered,  a  table  was  turned 
over,  and  a  punch-bowl  and  glass  were  broken.  Thus  the 
damage  to  his  person  and  property  was  inconsiderable  ;  though 
the  multitude  —  about  three  hundred  in  number  —  were  much 
exasperated  in  consequence  of  the  arms  found  secreted  in  his 
house,  contrary  to  his  assurances. 

The  Doctor,  soon  after  this  occurrence,  fled  from  Hebron  to 
Boston,  with  the  design  of  embarking  for  England,  to  make  a 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  533 

representation  of  the  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  the 
inhabitants  of  his  town  and  neighborhood.  It  was  feared  that 
he  would  state  his  grievances  in  a  light  which  would  endanger 
the  Charter  of  Connecticut,  and  some  anxiety  was  manifested 
by  the  Whigs  of  that  Colony ;  and  the  more  especially,  as  at 
Boston  he  received  the  countenance  of  the  Governor,  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Customs,  the  Mandamus  Councillors, 
and  the  Episcopal  clergy,  all  of  whom,  it  was  feared,  would 
testify  to  his  character,  and  to  the  injuries  which  he  had  sus 
tained.  It  was  deemed  advisable,  therefore,  that  his  motions 
should  be  watched,  that  communications  with  his  friends  in 
Connecticut  should  be  intercepted,*  and  %that  other  means 
should  be  adopted  to  prevent  his  procuring  testimony  to  make 
out  a  case  against  the  Colony  of  a  nature  likely  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  ministry  in  England.  The  following  letter  to 
his  mother,  which  was  intercepted,  shows  that  his  plans  were 
indeed  similar  to  those  which  were  suspected  by  the  persons 
who  observed  his  movements. 

"Dear  Mother: — I  am  well,  and  doing  business  for  my 
intended  route.  I  hear  a  mob  was  gathered  for  me  the  day  I 
left  Hebron  ;  what  they  have  done  I  cannot  yet  find  out.  As 
Jonathan  will  be  obliged  to  attend  at  New  Haven  when  the 
Assembly  sits,  I  desire  him  to  tell  Mr.  Jarvis,  Andrews,  Hub- 
bard,  &c.,  to  collect  all  the  facts  touching  mobs  and  insults 
offered  the  clergy  of  our  churches,  or  her  members ;  likewise 
to  send  me  a  copy  of  the  Clergy's  petition  to  Governor  Trum- 
bull,  and  what  he  does  in  answer.  If  Jonathan  is  hurt,  or  my 
house  is  hurt  or  damaged,  let  that  be  transmitted  to  me  within 
fourteen  days,  or,  after  that,  send  accounts  to  the  care  of  Mr. 


*  Two  of  his  friends,  who  were  known  to  have  visited  him,  were  accused, 
on  their  return,  of  having  brought  letters  to  his  family,  but  denied  the  fact. 
They  were  seen,  however,  afterwards,  to  go  to  a  stone-wall,  which,  on  being 
examined,  was  found  to  contain  two  letters ;  that  given  in  the  text  is  a  copy 
of  one  of  them,  and  these  men,  when  again  questioned,  confessed  that  they 
had  deposited  them  there. 

45* 


534  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Rice  Williams,  a  woollen  draper,  in  London.  I  am  in  high 
spirits.  I  should  be  happy  if  my  friends  and  relations  at  He 
bron  were  provided  for  at  these  bad  times,  when  things  are 
growing  worse.  Six  regiments  are  now  coming  from  England, 
and  sundry  men-of-war ;  so  soon  as  they  come,  hanging  work 
will  go  on,  and  destruction  will  first  attend  the  sea-port  towns ; 
the  lintel  sprinkled  on  the  side-posts  will  preserve  the  faithful. 
I  wish  Hannah  to  take  some  papers  which  she  and  I  laid 
away,  and  bring  them  to  me ;  she  knows  where  they  be ;  or 
burn  them  if  this  letter  appears  to  be  opened'  before  it  is  opened 
by  you.  Mr.  Beebe,  and  Mr.  David  Jones,  Mr.  Warner,  and 
Mr.  Griffin,  of  Millington,  must  draught  a  narrative  of  their 
sufferings,  and  such  words  as  Colonel  Spencer,  &c.,  have 
spoke,  by  way  of  encouragement  to  mobs,  and  let  Doctor 
Beebe  send  the  same  to  me,  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Thomas  Brown, 
merchant,  in  Boston. 

"I  am,  &c., 

"  SAMUEL  PETERS." 

In  another  letter  to  Reverend  Doctor  Auchmuty,  of  New 
York,  which  was  intercepted  at  the  same  time,  dated  at  Bos 
ton,  October  1,  1774,  Doctor  Peters  says:  "I  am  soon  to  sail 
for  England;  I  shall  stand  in  great  need  of  your  letters  and 
the  letters  of  the  clergy  of  New  York.  Judge  Auchmuty,  &c., 
&c.,  will  do  all  things  reasonable  for  the  neighboring  charter; 
necessity  calls  for  such  friendship,  as  the  head  is  sick,  and  the 
heart  faint,  and  spiritual  iniquity  rides  in  high  places  with 
halberts,  pistols,  and  swords,"  &c. ;  and  he  closes  with  the 
significant  remark,  that  "The  bounds  of  New  York  may 
directly  extend  to  Connecticut  river,  Boston  meet  them,  and 
New  Hampshire  take  the  Province  of  Maine,  and  Rhode  Island 
be  swallowed  up  as  Dathan." 

He  w.ent  to  England,  as  he  contemplated,  and  carried  with 
him,  as  is  manifest,  a  desire  to  divide  Connecticut  between 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  to  swallow  up  Rhode 
Island ;  but  the  ministry,  soon  after  his  departure,  had  graver 
work  to  attend  to  than  any  which  he  could  have  proposed,  and 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  535 

those  whom  he  left  behind,  to  fear  for  the  success  of  his  efforts, 
soon  lost  sight  of  him  and  his  plans,  in  the  turmoils  of  civil 
war.  He  remained  abroad  until  the  year  1805,  when  he  re 
turned  to  America.  While  absent,  he  was  elected  Bishop  of 
Vermont,  but  he  declined  the  station.  He  preached  sometimes 
in  London,  but  his  style  of  composition,  as  well  as  his  manner 
of  speaking,  failed  to  interest  hearers,  and  a  fellow  Loyalist, 
who  heard  him  deliver  a  sermon  in  a  London  pulpit,  said  it 
was  "hard  to  conceive  how  he  got  there."  While  absent,  too, 
he  published  a  History  of  Connecticut,  which  "is  embarrassed 
in  its  authority  by  a  number  of  fables,"  and  which  is  never 
referred  to,  but  in  amusement  or  disgust.  He  never,  it  is 
affirmed,  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  author  of  this  book ; 
but  the  fact  is  now  well  ascertained.  In  1817  and  1818  he 
made  a  journey  to  the  West,  and  as  far  as  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  claiming  a  large  territory  under  Carver.  He  died  in 
New  York,  April  19,  1826,  aged  ninety,  and  was  buried  at 
Hebron.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  singular  mind, 
and  to  have  been  deficient  in  some  qualities  of  character 
necessary  to  command  the  respect,  at  least,  of  opponents.  In 
McFingal  we  read, 

"  From  priests  of  all  degrees  and  metres, 
T'  our  fag-end  man,  poor  parson  Peters." 

Two  children  survived  him;  a  daughter,  who  accompanied 
him  to  England,  and  who  married  Mr.  Jarvis;  and  a  son,  who 
died  at  New  Orleans. 

PETERS,  THOMAS.  A  magistrate ;  died  at  Fredericton,  New 
Brunswick,  1813,  aged  sixty- four. 

PETERS,  V.  H.  A  magistrate,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
Ah  Addresser  of  the  royal  governor  of  New  York  in  1780. 

PETERS,  WILLIAM.  Died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1805. 

PETERS,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  Woodstock,  New  Brunswick, 
January,  1835.  He  emigrated  to  that  Province  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolution.  For  ten  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  and  was  in  the  Commission  of  the  Peace  for  a 
much  longer  time. 


536  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

PETRIE.  EDMUND.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780;  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

PETTET,  JOHN  S.  Petty  officer  of  the  Customs.  Embarked 
at  Boston  for  Halifax,  with  the  British  army,  in  1776. 

PETTINGILL,  MATTHEW.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
1817,  aged  eighty-one  years. 

PETTIT.  Eleven  persons  of  this  name  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
James,  Samuel,  Isaac,  Increase,  P.,  John,  W.,  John,  Samuel, 
Obadiah,  Joseph  junior.  Isaac  had  previously  signed  a  Decla 
ration  at  Jamaica.  In  1780,  James,  William,  and  Joshua 
Pettit,  of  that  County,  belonged  to  an  armed  party  of  Loyalists 
under  Lieutenant  McKain. 

PHAIR,  ANDREW.  In  1782  he  was  adjutant  of  Arnold's  Ameri 
can  Legion.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick ;  received  half-pay ; 
was  postmaster  of  Fredericton,  and  died  in  that  city. 

PHEPOE,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780;  also  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown ;  was  banished  in  1782,  and 
his  property  confiscated. 

PHILLIPS,  A.  F.  Of  Boston.  Was  a  Protester,  and  one  of 
the  Addressers  of  Hutchinson.  In  July  of  1774,  a  Boston 
Whig  wrote  to  a  friend  at  New  York,  that  the  Addressers  and 
Protesters  led  a  miserable  life,  that  "  in  the  country  the  people 
would  not  grind  their  corn,  and  in  the  town  they  refused  to 
purchase  from,  or  sell  to,  them,"  &c. 

PHILLIPS,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Boston.  Was  a  Protester  against 
the  Whigs  in  1774. 

PHILLIPS,  EBENEZER.  Left  Boston  with  the  British  army  for 
Halifax  in  1776 ;  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

PHILLIPS,  JOHN.  Of  Massachusetts.  Was  in  London,  1779, 
an  Addresser  of  the  king. 

PHILLIPS,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  captain  lieutenant 
of  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

PHILLIPS,  JOSEPH.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  ban 
ished  in  1778. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  537 

PHILLIPS,  MITCHELL.  Of  Virginia.  Was  denounced  in  March, 
1775,  by  the  Whig  Committee  of  Princess  Anne  County,  for 
his  loyal  conduct,  and  especially  because,  as  captain  of  a  com 
pany  of  militia,  "he  had  exerted  every  effort  to  deter  the  men 
under  his  command  from  acceding  to  the  Association,  and  had 
represented  all  the  American  proceedings  in  the  light  of  abso 
lute  rebellion."  And  the  Committee  expressed  the  conviction, 
li  that  no  person  ought  to  have  any  commercial  intercourse  or 
dealing  with  him." 

PHILLIPS,  RICHARD.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson. 

PHILLIPS,  ROBERT.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  a  Petitioner  to  bear  arms 
on  the  side  of  the  crown,  in  1780;  was  banished,  and  lost  his 
estate  under  the  confiscation  act,  1782. 

PHILLIPSE,  FREDERICK.  Of  New  York.  He  was  descended 
from  Frederick  Phillipse,  who  emigated  from  Holland  in  1658. 
The  first  Frederick  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  brought  with  him  money,  plate,  and  jewels, 
with  the  design  of  settling  upon  and  improving  large  estates 
which  he  had  purchased  on  the  Hudson  river.  He  had  ob 
tained  two  patents.  The  upper  was  named  Phillipsbourgh, 
and  the  lower  Fredericksbourgh.  The  one  contained  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  the  other,  two  hundred  and  forty, 
square  miles  of  territory.  He  also  purchased  several  houses 
in  the  city,  as  well  as  lands  there,  and  laid  out  lots  and  streets, 
and  erected  buildings ;  and  having  established  his  residence 
in  the  city,  he  commenced  the  contemplated  improvements  on 
the  estate  called  Phillipsbourgh.  At  his  decease,  the  whole 
property  descended  to  his  heir.  At  the  period  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  it  had  been  divided  by  the  will  of  the  previous  possessor, 
(whose  name  was  Frederick  Phillipse),  between  his  four  chil 
dren  ;  and  was  in  possession  of  Frederick  Phillipse,  who  is  the 
subject  of  this  notice ;  of  the  heirs  of  Philip  PhiHipse ;  of 
Susanna  and  Beverley  Robinson ;  and  of  Roger  and  Mary 
Morris. 

The  Frederick  Phillipse,  of  whom  we  are  now  to  speak, 


538  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

occupied  an  elevated  position  in  colonial  society,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  a  prominent  actor  in  public  affairs. 
He  was,  however,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and 
held  the  commission  of  colonel  in  the  militia.  Nor  does  it 
seem  that,  though  a  friend  of  existing  institutions,  and  an 
opposer  of  the  Whigs,  he  was  an  active  partisan.  In  April, 
1775,  he  went  to  the  ground  appointed  by  the  Whigs  of  West- 
chester  County,  to  elect  deputies  to  Congress ;  and  declared, 
that  he  would  not  join  in  the  business  of  the  day,  and,  that 
his  sole  purpose  in  going  there  was,  to  protest  against  their 
illegal  and  unconstitutional  proceedings.  On  some  other  occa 
sions,  he  pursued  a  similar  line  of  conduct ;  but  his  name  is 
seldom  met  with  in  the  documents  of  the  time.  Soon  after 
1771,  Colonel  David  Humphreys,  who  subsequently  became 
an  aid  to  Washington,  and,  under  the  Federal  government, 
minister  to  Portugal  and  Spain,  and  who  had  just  completed 
his  studies  at  Yale  College,  became  a  resident  in  his  family, 
then  living  on  Phillipse  Manor.  The  late  President  Dwight 
was  well  acquainted  with  him  at  this  time,  and  speaks  of  him 
as  "  a  worthy  and  respectable  man,  not  often  excelled  in  per 
sonal  and  domestic  amiableness ;  "  and  of  Mrs.  Phillipse,  he 
remarks,  that  she  "  was  an  excellent  woman." 

In  the  progress  of  events,  Colonel  Phillipse  abandoned  his 
home,  and  took  refuge  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  finally 
embarked  for  England.  In  person  he  was  extremely  large ;  and 
on  account  of  his  bulk  his  wife  seldom  rode  in  the  same  carriage 
with  him.  Colonel  Phillipse  had  one  brother  and  two  sisters, 
who  inherited  the  Manor  of  Fredericksbourgh,  in  equal  por 
tions.  His  brother,  whose  name  was  Philip,  died  before  the 
Revolution,  and  as  his  children  were  too  young  to  take  a  part 
in  the  war,  their  share  was  saved,  and  is  still  in  the  family. 
For  an  account  of  Susanna  and  Mary,  the  sisters,  the  rea 
der  is  referred  to  the  notices  of  their  husbands,  — the  senior 
Colonel  Beverley  Robinson,  and  Colonel  Roger  Morris.  The 
Manor  of  Phillipsbourgh  was  the  property  of  Colonel  Phil 
lipse,  and,  like  his  sisters'  shares  of  the  other  estate,  was  confis 
cated.  He  applied  to  the  British  government  for  compensation, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  539 

and  was  allowed  £62,075  sterling,  or,  about  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  In  1809,  in  an  English  work,  the  value  of 
the  two  Manors,  or  the  whole  of  the  original  Phillipse  property, 
was  estimated  at  six  or  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds.  Nor 
was  the  smaller  sum  extravagant.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  lands  in  1783  hardly  had  a  fixed  value ;  while  in  1809, 
the  impulse  which  the  Revolution  had  given  to  settlements,  to 
increase  of  population,  &c.,  had  already  effected  vast  changes 
in  the  marketable  prices  of  real  property.  Colonel  Phillipse's 
son  Frederick,  is  also  named  in  the  New  York  confiscation 
act.  This  gentleman  married  a  niece  of  Sir  Alured  Clarke, 
Governor  of  the  Colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

PHINNEY,  FRANCIS.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  In  1777 
he  joined  the  royal  party  at  Rhode  Island. 

PHIPS,  DAVID.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1741, 
and  died  in  England,  July,  1811,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 
His  father  was  Spencer  Phips,  himself  a  lieutenant-governor, 
and  adopted  son  of  Sir  William  Phips,  the  first  governor  of 
Massachusetts,  under  the  charter  of  William  and  Mary. 
David  was  colonel  of  a  troop  of  guards  in  Boston,  and  sheriff 
of  Middlesex  County.  He  was  an  Addresser  on  three  occa 
sions  ;  as  his  name  is  found  among  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty -four  merchants  and  others,  of  Boston,  who  addressed 
Hutchinson  in  1774 ;  among  the  ninety-seven  gentlemen  and 
principal  inhabitants  of  that  town,  and  among  the  eighteen 
country  gentlemen  who  were  driven  from  their  homes,  and 
who  addressed  Gage  in  October,  1775.  He  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished:  under  the  act  of  1778. 
His  house  at  Cambridge  was  confiscated. 

PICKEN,  ROBERT.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  loyal  Declaration. 

PICKETT,  DAVID.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  Accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  seven  Children,  he  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783.  He  was  a  magistrate, 
and  a  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  in  King's  County, 
for  many  years,  where  he  died  in  1826. 

PICKETT,  JAMES.     Of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.     Arrived  at  St. 


540  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  two  children  in  the 
ship  Union,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  at  Port 
land,  New  Brunswick,  in  1812. 

PICKETT,  LEWIS.  Of  Nor  walk,  Connecticut.  Went  to  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  with  James  and 
David. 

PICKET.  Nathaniel  Picket,  of  Fairfield  County,  and  John 
Picket,  and  John  Picket,  junior,  of  Reading,  were  members  of 
the  Reading  Association.  John  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

PICKLE,  NICHOLAS.  Died  at  Upham,  King's  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1843,  aged  ninety-eight ;  and  his  wife  died  at 
the  same  place,  the  same  year,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

PICKMAN,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  born 
at  that  place  in  1740,  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1759,  and  died  in  the  town  of  his  nativity,  April,  1819,  aged 
seventy-nine  years.  He  was  a  merchant ;  a  representative  to 
the  General  Court ;  and  commanded  a  regiment  of  militia. 
His  name  appears  among  the  Addressers  of  Gage  on  his  arri 
val  in  1774,  and  in  the  banishment  act  of  1778.  His  estate 
was  confiscated,  but  a  portion  of  it  was  restored  on  his  return 
from  England.  Gentlemen  of  his  lineage  are  of  distinguished 
consideration  in  Massachusetts  at  the  present  time. 

PIKE,  THOMAS.  A  fencing  master,  of  Philadelphia.  Dis 
sembled,  and  was  supposed  to  be  Whiggish.  But  in  1777  he 
was  apprehended  (with  several  others)  and  sent  to  Virginia  for 
safe  keeping.  On  the  journey  he  acted  the  part  of  major-domo 
or  caterer,  at  the  inns  at  which  the  party  stopped. 

PILES,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  colonel  in  the  royal 
service.  "  A  violent  and  powerful  Tory."  The  family  of  this 
name,  of  whom  Colonel  John  was  the  head,  were  noted  for 
their  attachment  to  the  royal  interests.  Before  the  close  of  the 
year  1776,  the  Colonel  was  once  seized  and  borne  off  from  the 
house  of  a  fellow  Loyalist,  and  once  taken  prisoner  in  battle. 
In  1781  Cornwallis  sent  Tarleton  to  the  district  between  the 
Haw  and  Deep  rivers,  which  was  overrun  with  Loyalists,  to 
make  enlistments.  His  exertions  were  successful,  and  persons 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  541 

of  the  name  of  Piles,  gave  an  example  to  others  of  like  political 
sympathies.  Soon  after,  the  Colonel  —  who  had  previously 
embodied  a  corps  —  fell  in  with  Colonel  Lee's  command,  and 
suffered  a  disastrous  defeat.  His  force,  indeed,  was  nearly 
annihilated.  The  infatuated  adherents  of  the  king  were 
wholly  unacquainted  with  arms,  and  imagining,  as  it  would 
seem,  that  Lee's  troops  were  Tarleton's,  and  friends  instead 
of  enemies,  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  with 
little  or  no  resistance. 

PINE,  ALPHEUS.  He  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  accom 
panied  the  Loyalists  of  that  State  to  New  Brunswick.  For 
several  years  he  commanded  a  vessel  on  the  river  St.  John. 
On  one  occasion  he  sold  a  quantity  of  wood  to  General  Arnold, 
who,  after  the  peace,  lived  for  some  time  at  St.  John.  Arnold, 
not  paying  for  it,  and  taking  it  away  as  had  been  agreed,  he 
sold  it  a  second  time.  Just  as  the  second  purchaser  was  com 
mencing  to  haul  it  off,  Arnold  appeared,  and  a  quarrel  en 
sued.  In  the  affray,  Pine  caught  a  stick  from  the  pile,  and 
was  about  to  "break  the  traitor's  head,"  when  some  persons 
in  the  crowd  interfered.  "  But  for  this,"  Pine  has  frequently 
told  the  writer,  "  I  would  not  have  left  a  whole  bone  in  his 
skin."  After  living  in  New  Brunswick  for  a  considerable 
period,  the  Captain  removed  to  Eastport,  Maine,  where  he 
kept  a  hotel,  which  was  celebrated.  Returning  to  St.  John,  he 
died  there  in  March,  1846,  of  apoplexy,  aged  eighty-four 
years.  He  was  universally  known  as  an  honest  man.  Fond 
of  relating  anecdotes,  and  possessed  of  a  ready  memory,  he 
always  had  a  story.  His  account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Loy 
alists,  after  they  removed  to  New  Brunswick,  was  interesting 
and  painful. 

PINE,  HENRY.  Son  of  Stephen  Pine.  He  served  in  the  royal 
army,  and  was  discharged  at  Halifax  at  the  peace.  He  con 
tinued  to  reside  in  Nova  Scotia  until  his  death,  in  1844.  His 
age  was  ninety-five  years.  A  numerous  family  survive. 

PINE,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  one  of  the 
eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  were  driven  from  their  habi- 
46 


542  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

tations  to  Boston,  and  an  Addresser  of  Gage  on  his  departure 
in  1775. 

PINE.  Four  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit :  Reu 
ben,  James,  Richard,  and  James.  In  1780,  David  Pine,  of  the 
same  County,  was  in  arms  against  the  Whigs. 

PINE,  STEPHEN.  Of  Pine's  Ferry,  New  York.  He  was  in 
the  service,  and  connected  with  the  transportation  or  wagon 
department,  until  after  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  In  1783  he 
went  to  New  Brunswick,  and  died  on  the  river  St.  John  in 
that  Colony,  about  the  year  1786,  aged  sixty-six.  Three  sons, 
Henry,  Alpheus,  and  Stephen,  survived  him.  Stephen  is  yet 
(1846)  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  and  resides 
at  Eastport,  Maine.  Pine's  Ferry  was  a  noted  crossing-place 
on  the  Croton  River,  and  belonged  to  the  family.  At  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  a  bridge  had  been  erected  across  the  stream, 
which,  in  turn,  was  known  as  Pine's  Bridge.  Smith,  who 
conducted  Andre  on  his  way  to  New  York,  took  his  leave  at 
this  Bridge,  in  the  belief  that  no  difficulty  would  happen  for 
the  remainder  of  the  journey.  The  Cow-Boys  had  recently 
been  above  it,  while  the  territory  below  it  was  considered  their 
appropriate  domain.  These  miscreants,  though  mostly  refu 
gees,  and  therefore  belonging  to  the  British  side,  Smith  was 
anxious  to  avoid ;  but  Andre,  it  was  supposed,  would  meet  no 
interruption  from  them.  It  happened,  however,  that  on  the 
morning  he  passed  the  Bridge,  several  persons  who  resided 
within  the  Neutral  Ground,  went  out  for  the  professed  ob 
ject  of  obtaining  whatever  booty  chance  might  throw  in  their 
way.  Whether  the  three  of  this  party  into  whose  hands  Andre 
fell,  were  better,  or  indeed,  whether  they  were  other  than 
Cow-Boys,  has  been  a  question  of  some  discussion.  Andre 
himself  was  of  the  opinion,  that  Paulding,  Van  Wart,  and 
Williams,  were  men  of  doubtful  virtue;  and  Major  Tallmadge, 
a  Whig  officer  of  distinguished  merit,  who  was  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances,  seems  to  have  been  impressed  with  the 
same  conviction.  One  of  the  Pines  has  assured  me,  that  he 
knew  Van  Wart  was  —  to  use  his  own  words  —  "a  British 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  543 

militia-man,"  for  he  "  had  been  told  so  by  Yan  Wart  himself." 
Mr.  Sparks,  —  a  gentleman  whose  kindness  and  charity  are 
ever  manifested,  and  are  as  remarkable  as  his  fidelity  in  his 
torical  examinations, — pursues  a  course  of  argument  with  rela 
tion  to  the  captors  of  Andre,  which  relieves  them  of  the  weight 
of  the  imputations  of  their  accusers. 

PINCKNEY,  CHARLES.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1774  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Charleston,  appointed  to  receive 
donations  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferings  at  Boston,  caused  by 
the  passage  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill.  At  that  time  he  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Charleston  Committee  of  Correspondence. 
In  1775  he  was  President  of  the  South  Carolina  Provincial 
Congress.  But  in  1782,  in  consequence  of  his  defection  from 
the  Whig  cause,  his  estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent.  This 
gentleman  was  known  as  Charles  Pinckriey,  senior.  He  was 
a  colonel  in  the  militia,  and  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assem 
bly.  He  was  educated  for  the  bar,  and  at  the  period  of  the 
Revolution,  was  one  of  the  three  eminent  lawyers  of  South 
Carolina,  and  as  a  public  speaker,  was  surpassed  but  by  few. 
[n  1775  the  Whig  Charles  Pinckney  was  a  youth  of  seventeen. 

PINKNEY,  JONATHAN.  Of  Maryland.  His  son,  the  Honor 
able  William  Pinkney,  a  mere  lad  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution,  but  a  Whig  in  his  political  sympathies,  became 
a  very  distinguished  man;  having  been  an  eminent  lawyer,  a 
minister  at  several  foreign  courts,  Senator  to  Congress,  and 
Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 

PIPER,  JOHN.  Surgeon's  mate  of  the  North  Carolina  High 
land  Regiment. 

PITFIELD,  GEORGE.  A  magistrate ;  died  at  Sussex  Yale,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1827,  aged  seventy-eight. 

PLACE,  AARON.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

PLACE,  JAMES.  An  ensign  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's  American 
Volunteers.  *. 

PLATEAU,  JAMES.     Of  New  York.     See  William  Gorl. 

PLATT,  OBADIAH.  Of  Fairfield,  Connecticut.  In  March,  1775, 
the  Whig  Committee  of  Inspection  pronounced,  that  "all 


544 


.BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


connexions,  commerce  and  dealings,  ought  to  be  withdrawn 
from  him  by  every  friend  to  his  country,  for  a  breach  of  the 
Association  of  the  Continental  Congress." 

PLATT.  Six  of  this  name  signed  the  Reading  Association, 
Connecticut.  Abel,  Joseph,  and  Josiah,  of  Fairfield  County ; 
and  Isaac,  Hezeldah,  and  Timothy,  of  Reading. 

PLEASANTS,  SAMUEL.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777,  charged 
with  disaffection  to  the  Whigs,  he  was  ordered  to  be  sent 
prisoner  to  Virginia. 

PLUMBER,  DANIEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  in  commis 
sion  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  He 
died,  probably,  before  the  peace.  His  estate  was  confiscated. 

PLUNKETT,  WILLIAM.  A  colonel  in  the  militia,  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  In  the  difficulties  which  occurred  during  the  Revolu 
tionary  controversy,  between  the  Connecticut  people  who 
emigrated  to  Wyoming,  and  the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania, 
he  was  a  prominent  actor,  both  as  a  magistrate,  and  as  the 
leader  of  an  armed  force  designed  to  suppress  the  alleged 
misconduct  of  the  Yankee  settlers.  He  was  a  stout  adherent 
of  the  crown,  and  never,  to  his  latest  hour,  would  concede  that 
the  authority  of  his  royal  master  had  passed  away,  or  consent 
to  take  an  oath  to  support  the  new  government.  He  died  a 
bachelor  at  an  advanced  age.  He  was  an  Irishman,  and 
came  to  America  in  early  life.  In  1750  it  is  affirmed,  that  he 
was  concerned  in  several  robberies  in  England.  By  his  own 
admission,  it  appears,  that  he  aided  in  the  robbery  of  Lord 
Eglintoun  on  Hounslow  Heath.  He  was  recognized  in  this 
country  by  a  person  who  had  known  him  at  home,  but  the 
secret  of  his  crime  was  not  divulged.  From  the  accounts  of 
him,  it  would  seem,  that  he  was  a  rough,  fearless  man,  of 
great  energy  and  activity,  but  of  an  arbitrary  and  severe  dis 
position.  He  was  buried  at  Sunbury,  Pennsylvania. 

POLHEMUS,  ABRAHAM,  ABRAHAM  Junior,  and  JOHN.  Of  Queen's 
County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 
Abraham  had  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  the  year  before. 
In  April,  1779,  Abraham,  and  Abraham  junior,  were  Address 
ers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling,  of  the  Forty-second  Regi- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  545 

ment.     In   1783,  a  person  named  Abraham  Polhemus  was  a 
magistrate  of  Queen's  County. 

POLHEMUS,  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Was  a  captain ; 
signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775,  and  in  1777  was 
designated  in  town  meeting,  a  Trustee  to  provide  fuel  and 
other  necessaries  for  the  guard-house  and  hospital  of  the  royal 
troops  at  Jamaica.  September  13,  1783,  he  advertised  in 
Rivington's  paper,  that  the  ship  was  ready  to  receive  the 
Loyalists  who  had  enrolled  themselves  in  his  company  for 
Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  and  that  those  who  neglected  his 
notice,  would  not  be  provided  with  passages  at  the  expense  of 
the  government. 

POLLARD,  BENJAMIN.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

POMROY,  JOSIAH.  Physician,  of  Hatfield,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

POMROY,  JOSIAH.  Of  New  Hampshire.  His  estate  was  con 
fiscated,  and  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

POOLE,  SAMUEL  SHELDON.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Assem 
bly  of  Nova  Scotia  for  fifty  years,  and  was  long  known  as  the 
Father  of  the  House.  He  died  at  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia, 
in  1835,  aged  eighty-seven. 

PORCHER,  PHILIP.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
under  the  crown.  His  property  was  confiscated.  Very  proba 
bly  he  was  a  Whig  at  the  outset,  as  in  1775  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Provincial  Congress. 

PORTER,  GEORGE  DUDLEY.  Was  in  the  royal  military  service. 
He  died  at  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1841,  aged  eighty- 
nine. 

PORTER,  JAMES.  Comptroller  General  of  the  Customs.  He 
embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army  for  Halifax,  in 
1776.  He  arrived  in  England  in  August  of  that  year. 

PORTER,  SAMUEL.    Attorney  at  law,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1763.     His  name  occurs 

among  the  barristers  and  attornies  who  addressed  Hutchinson 

on  his  departure  in  June ;  and  among  the  Salern  Addressers  of 

46* 


546  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Gage  on  his  arrival,  June,  1774 ;  and  is  to  be  found  in  the 
banishment  act  of  1778.  He  died  in  London  in  1798. 

POTE,  JEREMIAH.  Merchant,  of  Falmouth,  Maine.  He  owned 
and  occupied  one  of  the  two  principal  wharves  erected  in  that 
town  previous  to  the  Revolution  ;  transacted  a  large  business, 
and  filled  offices  of  trust  and  honor.  In  1774  a  public  meeting 
was  called  to  consider  the  state  of  public  affairs,  which  he 
attended ;  but  he  desired  that  his  dissent  might  be  entered 
against  a  resolution  relative  to  the  ministry  and  East  India 
Company,  which  was  introduced  and  passed.  In  1775  he 
rendered  himself  obnoxious  during  the  troubles  with  Mowatt, 
which  resulted  in  the  burning  of  the  town.  He  was  sum 
moned  before  the  Whigs,  who,  under  Thompson,  assumed  the 
government,  and  organized  themselves  into  a  board  of  war, 
and  required  him  to  contribute  money  and  provisions,  and  to 
give  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  £2000,  to  appear  at  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts,  and  give  an  account  of  his  con 
duct.  In  the  conflagration  w^hich  soon  followed,  his  loss 
in  real  estate  was  £656,  and  in  other  property  £202.  In 
1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  After  the  peace  he 
settled  in  St.  Andrew,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Croix, 
New  Brunswick,  where  he  died  November  23,  1796,  aged 
seventy-one  years.  His  son  Robert  deceased  at  the  same 
place,  November  8,  1794,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five :  and  his 
widow,  Elisabeth,  died  December  21,  1809,  aged  seventy- 
nine. 

POTTS,  EDWARD.  Was  captain  lieutenant  of  De  Lancey's 
Second  Battalion.  In  1809,  E.  Potts,  Esquire,  died  at  Hali 
fax,  Nova  Scotia,  —  probably  the  same. 

POTTS,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas.  After  Galloway  deserted  the  Whig  cause,  and 
went  to  England,  he  was  a  correspondent.  In  1779  his  estate 
was  confiscated.  He  was  a  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova 
Scotia  in  July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

POWELL,  JACOB.  Went  from  New  York  to  Richebucto,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1783.  He  became  a  magistrate,  and  died  in  1819, 
aged  fifty-three. 


OF    AMERICAS    LOYALISTS.  547 

POWELL,  JAMES  EDWARD.  Of  Georgia.  Went  to  England. 
He  was  an  Addresser  of  the  king  at  London  in  1779. 

POWELL,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  He  was  one  of  the  rifty-eight 
Boston  memorialists,  who,  in  1760,  arrayed  themselves  against 
the  officers  of  the  crown.  But  in  1774  he  was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson,  and  in  1775  an  Addresser  of  Gage.  He  went  to 
Halifax  in  1776,  and  in  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 
In  1783  he  was  in  England. 

POWELL,  ROBERT  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Before  the  Revolution  he  was  a  merchant,  and  conducted  a 
large  business.  In  the  early  proceedings  in  that  city,  he  ap 
pears  to  have  acted  with  the  Whigs.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Assembly  in  1774,  and  chairman  of  a  general 
meeting  called  at  Charleston,  to  consider  the  Boston  Port  Bill 
and  other  grievances,  and  to  support  the  measures  proper  to 
be  adopted  in  consequence  thereof;  and,  as  the  organ  of  the 
committee,  acquainted  the  House,  that  during  the  recess  they 
had  nominated  delegates  to  meet  deputies  from  the  other  Colo 
nies  in  the  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  in  September  of  that 
year.  The  nominations  were  confirmed.  At  a  subsequent 
period  he  was  found  among  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  and 
during  the  war  raised  and  commanded  a  regiment  or  battalion 
of  troops.  He  accordingly  lost  his  large  estate  by  confiscation, 
but  received  partial  compensation  as  a  Loyalist  under  the  act 
of  parliament.  He  went  to  England,  and  in  1794  represented 
to  the  British  government,  that,  at  the  time  of  his  banishment 
and  the  forfeiture  of  his  property,  large  debts  were  due  to  him 
in  America,  which,  though  the  debtors  were  able  to  pay, 
remained  unpaid,  and  he  prayed  for  interposition  and  relief. 
Colonel  Powell  died  in  1835. 

POWELL,  SOLOMON.  Settled  in  Richebucto,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
died  there.  Elizabeth,  his  widow,  deceased  at  that  place  in 
1837,  aged  ninety-one. 

POWELL,  WILLIAM  DUMMELL.  Of  Boston.  He  became  Chief 
Justice  of  Upper  Canada,  and  died  at  Toronto,  in  that  Colony, 
in  1834,  aged  seventy-nine. 

POWELL,  AMOS,  STEPHEN,  and  HENRY.     Of  Queen's  County, 


548  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  In  1780 
Stephen  bore  arms  on  the  side  of  the  crown. 

POYNTON,  THOMAS.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  one  of 
the  forty-eight  merchants  and  others,  of  the  ancient  town  of 
Salem,  who  addressed  Gage  on  his  arrival  to  succeed  Hutch- 
inson,  June,  1774.  He  went  to  England  the  following  year, 
and  there  died  before  the  peace. 

PRENTICE,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

PRICE,  BENJAMIN.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army,  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

PRICE,  HOPKINS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780;  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated.  The  estate  of  William  Price,  of 
South  Carolina,  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent,  by  an  act  of  the 
last  named  year. 

PRICE,  WALTER.  He  settled  in  York  County,  New  Bruns 
wick,  as  an  Episcopal  minister,  and  died  there. 

PRINCE,  JOHN.  A  physician,  of  Massachusetts.  Went  to 
Halifax.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Honorable  Richard 
Derby.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

PRINCE,  JOHN.  Died  at  Hampton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1825, 
at  an  old  age. 

PRINCE,  SAMUEL.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774 ;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

PRINDALL,  JONATHAN.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

PROCTOR,  THOMAS.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Second  American  Regiment.  In  1774,  Thomas  Proctor,  of 
Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson. 

PROCUE,  PETER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

PROUD,  ROBERT.  Of  Philadelphia.  He  taught  a  school  in 
that  city  for  several  years ;  and  later  in  life,  wrote  a  History 
of  Pennsylvania,  which  was  published,  in  two  volumes,  in  the 
years  1797  and  1798.  The  work  is  valuable  on  many  accounts ; 
but  is  wanting  in  continued  and  well  sustained  narrative. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  549 

The  publication  was  unprofitable,  and  occasioned  him  loss. 
"  Domine  Proud  wore  a  curled,  grey  wig,  and  a  half-cocked, 
ancient  hat.  He  was  the  model  of  a  gentleman."  He  was 
tall,  had  a  Roman  nose,  and  '-most  impending  brows."  He 
died  in  1813,  aged  eighty-five.  He  was  not  only  decided  in 
his  attachment  to  the  crown,  but  was  of  the  opinion,  that  the 
Revolution  would  prove  both  the  cause  and  the  commencement 
of  the  decline  of  national  virtue  and  prosperity  in  America. 

PUNDERSON,  • .  A  physician,  of  Queen's  County,  New 

York.  In  July,  1780,  a  party  of  Whigs  surrounded  his  house, 
took  him  prisoner,  and  carried  him  to  Connecticut.  The  rebels 
told  his  wife  that  the  act  was  in  retaliation  for  the  capture 
of  John  Smith,  at  Smithtown,  and  that  they  should  hold 
the  Doctor  for  exchange.  Such  transactions  were  not  un 
common. 

PURDY.  Among  the  Protesters  against  the  Whigs  at  White 
Plains,  New  York,  April,  1775,  were  twenty-four  persons  of 
the  name  of  Purdy,  all  of  the  County  of  Westchester.  To  wit : 
Captain  Joshua  Purdy,  Lieutenant  Jonathan,  and  Lieutenant 
Samuel.  Sylvanus,  Gilbert,  Samuel,  Timothy,  Daniel,  Seth, 
David,  Francis,  Joseph,  Gabriel,  Elijah,  Joseph,  Isaac,  Na 
thaniel,  Roger,  Haccaliah  junior,  Jonathan  junior,  Joseph 
junior,  Elijah  junior,  Joshua  junior,  and  Roger  junior.  David 
subsequently  entered  the  service,  was  an  ensign  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment ;  and  at  the  peace  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  two  city  lots.  Gilbert  was 
also  a  grantee  of  that  city ;  one  of  the  Samuels  died  in  St. 
John  in  1841 ;  and  Joseph  junior,  was  drowned  in  the  river 
St.  John,  1844.  Of  the  Purdy s  of  New  York,  not  mentioned 
above,  Archibald  embarked  for  Nova  Scotia  in  1783 ;  and 
Henry,  a  magistrate,  died  at  Fort  Lawrence,  Cumberland 
County,  New  Brunswick,  1S27,  aged  eighty-three. 

PURVIS,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  June,  1775,  when  the 
Provincial  Congress  (of  which  body  he  was  a  member)  raised 
two  regiments  of  foot,  and  qne  of  horse,  he  was  commissioned 
a  captain  in  the  latter,  and  took  the  field  as  a  Whig  officer. 
During  the  affair  with  the  Cunninghams  in  July  of  that  year, 


550  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

he  went  over  to  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  and  his  troop  fol 
lowed  his  example.  The  desertion  of  Purvis  and  of  Kirkland, 
at  the  same  time,  with  their  commands,  had  a  pernicious 
influence  upon  the  affairs  of  the  Whigs  of  South  Carolina. 

PUTNAM,  JAMES.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  University,  and  a  relation  of  the  Whig  General  Israel 
Putnam.  His  name  appears  among  the  Addressers  of  Hutch- 
inson,  and  in  the  banishment  act.  He  was  the  last  royal 
attorney  general  of  Massachusetts.  Leaving  Boston  with  the 
British  army,  he  went  to  New  York,  Halifax,  and  England. 
Settling  finally  in  New  Brunswick,  he  became  a  member  of  his 
Majesty's  Council,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  died 
at  St.  John  in  1789.  The  tablet  erected  over  his  remains, 
records,  that  his  widow,  Elisabeth,  died  in  1798,  aged  sixty- 
six;  his  daughter.  Elisabeth  Knox.  in  1787,  aged  eighteen;  his 
grand- daughter,  Elisabeth  Knox,  in  1789,  aged  five  months  ; 
his  son,  Ebenezer,  in  1798,  aged  thirty-six  years;  and  his  great- 
grandson,  James,  in  1825,  aged  eleven  months.  The  motto  at 
the  close  of  the  inscriptions  is,  "  VIVIT  POST  FUNERA  VIRTUS." 

PUTNAM,  JAMES,  Junior.  Son  of  James  Putnam,  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1774.  He 
was  one  of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen  who  were  driven 
to  Boston,  and  who  addressed  Gage  on  his  departure  in  1775. 
He  went  to  England,  and  died  there  in  March,  1838 ;  having 
been  a  barrack-master,  a  member  of  the  household,  and  an 
executor  of  the  late  Duke  of  Kent. 

PYNCHON,  WILLIAM.  Counsellor  at  law,  of  Salem,  Massa 
chusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1743,  and 
died  March,  1789,  aged  sixty-eight  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
Salem  Addressers  of  Gage,  on  his  arrival  to  succeed  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774;  but  remaining  in  the  country,  was  not  proscribed, 
though  his  property  and  his  peace  suffered  from  the  fury  of 
mobs.  His  name  is  also  found  among  the  barristers  and  attor- 
nies  who  addressed  Hutchinson.  Lucy,  his  widow,  died  at 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1814,  aged  seventy-four;  and 
his  son,  Erastus,  died  at  that  place  in  1817,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
nine. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  551 

QUACKENBUSH,  DAVID.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County. 
New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

QUAILL,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  In  1783  he  was  preparing 
to  embark  for  Nova  Scotia. 

Q,UIGLEY,  JOHN.  A  magistrate,  of  New  Hampshire.  In  1775 
he  was  seized  and  confined  in  the  jail  at  Amherst.  He  was 
released  and  fled.  By  the  act  of  1778,  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  His  property  was  confiscated. 

Q.UIN,  MICHAEL.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

QUINCY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1754,  and  entering  upon  the  practice  of 
law,  rose  to  distinction,  and  was  appointed  Solicitor  General 
of  the  Crown.  His  brother  Josiah  was  a  Whig,  and  one  of  the 
purest  men  of  the  time.  Samuel,  influenced  by  his  official 
duties  and  connexions,  espoused  the  opposite  side,  and  at  the 
evacuation  of  Boston  left  the  country,  and  went  to  England. 
His  name  appears  among  the  barristers  who  were  Addressers 
of  Hutchinson ;  and  in  the  proscription  and  confiscation  acts. 
He  received  the  post  of  Attorney  to  the  Crown,  in  the  island 
of  Antigua,  and  held  it  at  his  death  in  1789.  He  has  descend 
ants  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire. 

Q.UINTARD,  ISAAC.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  He  commanded 
the  second  company  of  militia  in  that  town,  and  in  1775  be 
came  involved  in  difficulty  with  the  House  of  Assembly  for 
his  opposition  to  the  Whigs,  and  a  Committee  was  appointed 
to  examine  into  his  conduct. 

QUINTON,  DIXON.  Of  Worcester  County,  Maryland.  The 
Whig  Committee  of  that  County  pronounced  him  to  be  an 
enemy  to  his  country,  June  7,  1775.  His  offence  consisted  in 
dealing  in  salt,  "  imported  contrary  to  the  Resolves  of  the 
Continental  Congress." 

QUINTON,  HUGH.  Of  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire.  Set 
tled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died  there.  His  widow, 
who  married  a  Mr.  McKeen,  died  at  Carlton,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1834,  aged  ninety-five.  His  son  James,  a  ship-master  of  St. 
John,  was  the  first  male  child  of  British  origin  born  in  that 
Colony. 


552 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


RADCLIFFE,  THOMAS,  Senior.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

RAINSFORD,  ANDREW.  After  the  Revolution,  he  became  a 
resident  of  New  Brunswick,  and  was  receiver-general,  and 
assistant  barrack-master  of  that  Colony.  He  died  at  Frede- 
ricton  in. 1820,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six,  leaving  numerous  de 
scendants.  Four  of  his  sons,  it  is  believed,  held,  or  have  held, 
military  commissions  in  the  British  service. 

RALPH,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

RAMADGE,  CHARLES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

RAMADGE,  JOHN.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army 
for  Halifax,  1776. 

RAND,  ISAAC.  Physician,  of  Boston.  He  was  born  in  1743, 
and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1761.  In  1764  he 
settled  in  Boston  as  a  practitioner  of  medicine,  and  rose  to 
great  eminence.  His  political  opinions  were  well  known.  He 
continued  in  Boston  during  the  siege ;  but  as  he  was  at  no 
time  an  active  partisan,  the  Whigs  did  not  molest  him.  From 
1798  to  1804  he  was  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society.  He  was  a  man  of  great  benevolence  of  character, 
gave  both  money  and  professional  services  to  the  poor;  and 
whole  families  owed  their  support  for  years  to  his  bounty. 
His  manners  were  polished ;  his  life  in  the  highest  degree 
exemplary.  He  died  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  He 
wrote  and  published  essays  on  medical  subjects. 

RAND,  PHINEAS.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1777  he  was  seized  and 
ordered  to  be  sent  to  Virginia,  as  an  enemy  to  the  Whig  cause. 

RANDALL,  AMOS.  Died  in  Argyle,  Nova  Scotia,  1839,  aged 
eighty. 

RANDALL,  JOHN  B.     A  captain  in  the  Georgia  Loyalists. 

RANDOLPH,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  England.  He  was 
in  London  in  1779. 

RANDOLPH,  ROBERT  FITZ.  He  removed  from  New  York  to 
Nova  Scotia  in  1783,  and  died  in  the  County  of  Annapolis  in 
1831,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  553 

RANKIN,  JAMES  and  JOHN.  Of  York  County,  Pennsylvania. 
Their  estates  were  confiscated  in  1779. 

RAPALJE,  JOHN,  Esquire.  Of  New  York.  In  1774  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  and  in  1775  he 
had  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  was  one  of  the 
fourteen  who,  during  the  recess  that  year,  addressed  General 
Gage  at  Boston,  on  the  subject  of  the  unhappy  contest.  His 
property  was  confiscated,  and  he  departed  the  country.  Dur 
ing  the  war,  he  was  in  authority  at  Brooklyn,  and  it  is  sup 
posed  that  he  carried  off  the  public  records  of  that  town,  as 
they  were  never  seen  after  his  removal.  His  estate  was  large, 
and  consisted  principally  of  land. 

RAPALJE.  Sixteen  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  were  signers  of  a  Representation  and  Petition,  ac 
knowledging  allegiance  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William 
Howe,  October,  1776.  To  wit :  Daniel  senior,  George,  George 
junior,  Abraham  J.,  John,  Berns,  Richard,  Abraham,  Daniel, 
Cornelius,  Martin,  George,  Jeromus,  Joris,  Jeromus,  and  Cor 
nelius.  In  April,  1779,  Daniel,  Martin,  Cornelius,  Daniel, 
George,  John,  Abraham  J.,  Bermandus,  and  Jeronemus  Ra- 
palje,  were  Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling,  of  the 
Forty-second  Regiment. 

RATHEU,  JOSEPH.  Of  North  Carolina.  Went  to  England 
previous  to  July,  1779. 

RAYMOND,  JOHN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  Was  a  member 
of  the  Association. 

RAYMOND,  RICE  and  STENT.  Of  Connecticut.  Were  grantees 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1783. 

RAYMOND,  SILAS.  Of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  With  his  wife 
and  four  children,  and  widow  Mary,  of  the  same  place,  arrived 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring 
of  1783.  Silas  settled  in  King's  County,  and  died  there  in 
1824,  aged  seventy-six. 

RAYMOND,  WHITE.  Of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  Went  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  peace,  deceased  in  1835,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six,  and  was  buried  at  Hampton. 

RAYNOR.  JOSEPH,  ELIJAH,  and  EZEKIEL.     Of  Queen's  County, 
47 


554  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

New  York.     Assisted  in  the  capture  of  the  Whig  privateer 
Revenue,  in  1780. 

READ,  CHARLES.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army 
for  Halifax,  1776. 

READFORD,  THOMAS.  Of  North  Carolina.  In  1776  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Whig  Colonel  Caswell,  and  imprisoned. 

REED,  JAMES.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Newbern,  North 
Carolina.  The  20th  of  July,  1775,  by  recommendation  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  was  kept  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humili 
ation  and  prayer.  He  was  requested  and  entreated  to  perform 
divine  service  in  his  church,  but  refused,  and  gave  in  sub 
stance  as  a  reason,  that  "he  should  render  himself  obnoxious 
to  the  ministry,  and  of  course  lose  his  parish."  But  he  did 
not  save  it.  Subsequently,  the  Whig  Committee  "earnestly 
requested  the  vestry  of  the  parish  to  suspend  his  ministerial 
functions,  and  that  they  immediately  direct  the  churchwardens 
to  stop  the  payment  of  his  salary."  Mr.  Reed  was  suspended. 
It  appears  from  the  proceedings,  that,  on  the  day  in  question, 
the  people  assembled  at  the  church,  in  the  expectation  of  ser 
vices  suited  to  the  occasion,  and  that  Mr.  Reed  "  deserted  his 
congregation ; "  when  a  "  very  animated  and  spirited  discourse 
was  read  by  a  member  of  the  Committee,  to  a  very  crowded 
audience." 

REED,  LEONARD.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  King's  American  Regiment.  He  settled  on  the  river 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay. 

REED,  RICHARD  and  SAMUEL.  Of  Marblehead.  Were  Address 
ers  of  Hutchinson,  1774. 

REED,  ROBERT  and  JAMES.  Residence  unknown.  Were  gran 
tees  of  St.  John,  1783;  the  latter  died  at  that  city  in  1820, 
aged  sixty-three. 

REEF,  JOHN.  In  1775  he  was  sent  prisoner  from  Long  Island, 
New  York,  to  Massachusetts,  and  confined  within  the  limits 
of  the  town  of  Rutland. 

REES,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission  of 
the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  555 

REGAN,  JEREMIAH.  A  magistrate  ;  died  at  Sussex  Vale,  New 
Brunswick,  1815,  aged  seventy-four. 

REMSEN.  Fifteen  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Rem  P.,  John,  Christopher,  Abraham,  John,  Jeremiah,  Rem, 
John,  Jacob,  Rem,  Jeromus,  Simon,  Isaac,  Cornelius,  and 
Isaac  junior.  John  Remsen,  Ares,  Rem,  Rem  junior,  Daniel, 
arid  Jacob,  were  signers  of  the  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  Declara 
tion  of  Loyalty,  in  1775.  In  April,  1779,  Jeromus  and  Jeremiah 
Remsen,  of  Queen's  County,  were  Addressers  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Sterling,  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment.  John  Rem 
sen  died  at  Clements,  Nova  Scotia,  1827. 

RENCH,  JAMES.  Physician,  of  Delaware.  By  a  law  of  1778, 
he  was  required  to  surrender  himself  and  be  tried  for  treason, 
or  lose  his  estate. 

RENNIE,  JOHN.  He  was  banished,  and  his  estate  confiscated. 
In  1794  he  and  other  Loyalists  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
British  government,  on  the  subject  of  large  debts  due  in 
America,  which  were  unpaid,  though  the  debtors  were  rich, 
and  though  the  treaty  of  peace  was  supposed  to  afford  means 
of  recovering  all  sums  of  money  that  were  lawfully  due  be 
fore  the  Revolution. 

RENSHAW,  JAMES.  Died  in  the  County  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1835,  aged  about  eighty. 

RENSHAW,  THOMAS.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

REUBELL,  JOHN  CASPAR.  A  Lutheran  clergyman,  of  Long 
Island,  New  York,  and  "a  rotund,  jolly  looking  man."  For  a 
time  during  the  war,  Colonels  Atlee  and  Miles,  of  the  British 
service,  were  his  boarders.  He  prayed  in  his  pulpit  for  "  King 
George  the  Third,  Queen  Charlotte,  the  princes  and  princesses 
of  the  royal  family,  and  the  upper  and  lower  houses  of  par 
liament."  He  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  in  1784. 

REYNOLDS,  WILLIAM.  A  cornet  in  the  King's  American 
Dragoons. 

RHEMS,  JOSEPH.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  commis 
sion  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston.  Estate  confiscated. 


556 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


RHOADES,  HENRY.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

RHODES,  WILLIAM.     Of  South  Carolina.     Went  to  England. 

RICE,  JESSE.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

RICH,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester,  April,  1775. 

RICHARDS,  OWEN.  Tide-waiter,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

RICHARDSON,  EBENEZER.  Of  Boston.  An  inferior  officer  of 
the  Customs,  and  an  informer  against  smuggled  goods.  He 
was  very  obnoxious.  Early  in  1770  he  was  assailed  by  a 
mob,  who  drove  him  to  his  house,  and  threw  stones  through 
the  windows.  As  some  of  the  multitude  were  about  to  force 
their  way  into  his  dwelling,  he  fired  upon  them,  and  killed  a 
boy  about  twelve  years  of  age.  He  was  seized  and  dragged 
through  the  streets  and  threatened  with  immediate  death,  but 
was  finally  taken  before  a  magistrate,  who  committed  him  to 
prison.  At  the  next  term  of  the  Court  he  was  tried  for  the 
offence,  which  all  the  Judges  were  of  the  opinion,  was  at 
most  but  manslaughter,  while  one  or  more  of  them  considered 
the  homicide  justifiable;  but  the  jury  gave  a  verdict  of 
murder.  The  Judges,  however,  suspended  sentence,  and  certi 
fied  to  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  that  Richardson  was  a  proper 
object  of  pardon,  and  upon  representation  to  the  ministry,  an 
order  was  passed,  that  his  name  "  should  be  inserted  in  the 
next  Newgate  pardon,"  and  in  due  time  he  was  discharged, 
when  he  immediately  absconded. 

RICHARDSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

RICHARDSON, .  An  ensign  in  the  New  York  Volunteers. 

He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  received  half-pay. 

RICKER,  JACOBUS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Ac 
knowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

RIED,  ANDREW.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Also  a  Petitioner  to  be 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  557 

armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.     He  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

RIED,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  First  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

RIERSON,  SAMUEL.  A  captain  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

Rio,  ALEXANDER.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion. 

RIPPON,  ISAAC.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

RISTEEN,  JOSEPH.  Died  in  the  County  of  Carlton,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1S39,  aged  ninety. 

RIVINGTON,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  Printer  and  bookseller. 
He  was  born  in  England,  and  emigrating  to  America,  settled 
in  that  city,  where  he  published  a  paper  called  Rivington's  Ga 
zette.  At  the  Revolutionary  era,  it  received  the  name  of  Riv 
ington's  Lying  Gazette.  He  became  very  obnoxious,  and  was 
denounced  in  every  section  of  the  country.  In  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  the  Whigs  resolved,  March  1,  1775,  that, 

"  Whereas,  a  certain  James  Rivington,  a  printer  and  sta 
tioner  in  the  city  of  New  York,  impelled  by  the  love  of  sordid 
pelf,  and  a  haughty  domineering  spirit,  hath,  for  a  long  time, 
in  the  dirty  Gazette,  and  in  pamphlets,  if  possible  still  more 
dirty,  uniformly  persisted  in  publishing  every  falsehood  which 
his  own  wicked  imagination,  or  the  imaginations  of  others  of 
the  same  stamp,  as  ingenious  perhaps  in  mischief  as  himself, 
could  suggest  and  fabricate,  that  had  a  tendency  to  spread 
jealousies,  fear,  discord,  and  disunion  through  this  country ; 
and  by  partial  and  false  representations  of  facts,  hath  endeav 
ored  to  pervert  truth,  and  to  mislead  the  incautious  into 
wrong  conceptions  of  facts  reported,-  and  wrong  sentiments 
respecting  the  measures  now  carrying  on  for  the  recovery  and 
establishment  of  our  rights,"  &c.  "  Therefore,  it  is  the  opin 
ion,"  &c.,  "that  no  further  dealings  or  correspondence  ought 
to  be  had  with  the  said  James  Rivington;  and  we  recommend 
it  to  every  person  who  takes  his  paper,  to  immediately  drop 
the  same,"  &c. 

47* 


558  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

On  the  6th  of  the  same  month  a  similar  resolution  was 
passed  in  Freehold,  New  Jersey;  on  the  8th,  a  paragraph 
published  in  his  paper  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Committee 
of  New  York,  who  authorized  Philip  Livingston  and  Mr.  Jay, 
to  wait  on  him  and  ask  for  the  authority  on  which  he  had 
made  a  false  statement;  on  the  14th,  the  freeholders  of  Ulster 
County,  New  York,  voted  to  have  no  connexion  or  inter 
course  with  him ;  and  in  May,  Richard  Henry  Lee  wrote  to 
Gouverneur  Morris,  that  he  was  "  sorry,  for  the  honor  of  human 
nature,  Rivington  has  so  prostituted  himself  in  support  of  a 
cause  the  most  detestable  that  ever  disgraced  mankind. " 
His  press  was  finally  destroyed  by  a  mob  from  Connecticut, 
who  also  carried  off  a  part  of  his  types,  and  converted  them 
into  Whig  bullets,  and  compelled  him  to  suspend  the  publica 
tion  of  his  paper.  His  conduct  was  examined  by  the  Provin 
cial  Congress,  who  referred  his  case  to  the  Continental  Congress 
at  Philadelphia,  and  while  the  latter  were  employed  in  consid 
ering  it,  he  addressed  to  them  the  following  letter. 

"Whereas  the  subscriber,  by  the  freedom  of  his  publications 
during  the  present  unhappy  disputes  between  Great  Britain  and 
her  Colonies,  has  brought  upon  himself  much  public  displeasure 
and  resentment,  in  consequence  of  which  his  life  has  been 
endangered,  his  property  invaded,  and  a  regard  to  his  personal 
safety  requires  him  still  to  be  absent  from  his  family  and  busi 
ness ;  and  whereas,  it  has  been  ordered  by  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  for  the  city  of  New  York,  that  a  report  of 
the  state  of  his  case  should  be  made  to  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  that  the  manner  of  his  future  treatment  may  be  sub 
mitted  to  their  direction ;  he  thinks  himself  happy  in  having 
at  last  for  his  judges,  gentlemen  of  eminent  rank  and  distinc 
tion  in  the  Colonies,  from  whose  enlarged  and  liberal  senti 
ments,  he  flatters  himself  that  he  can  receive  no  other  than 
an  equitable,  sentence,  unbiased  by  popular  clamor  and  resent 
ment.  He  humbly  presumes  that  the  very  respectable  gentle 
men  of  the  Congress  now  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  will  permit 
him  to  declare,  and,  as  a  man  of  honor  and  veracity,  he  can 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  559 

and  does  solemnly  declare,  that  however  wrong  and  mistaken 
he  may  have  been  in  his  opinions,  he  has  always  meant  hon 
estly  and  openly  to  do  his  duty  as  a  servant  of  the  public. 
Accordingly  his  conduct,  as  a  printer,  has  always  been  con 
formable  to  the  ideas  which  he  entertained  of  English  liberty, 
warranted  by  the  practice  of  all  printers  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  for  a  century  past,  under  every  administration ;  au 
thorized,  as  he  conceives,  by  the  laws  of  England,  and  coun 
tenanced  by  the  declaration  of  the  late  Congress.  He  declares 
that  his  press  has  been  always  open  and  free  to  all  parties,  and 
for  the  truth  of  this  fact,  appeals  to  his  publications,  among 
which  are  to  be  reckoned  all  the  pamphlets,  and  many  of  the 
the  best  pieces  that  have  been  written  in  this  and  the  neigh 
boring  Colonies  in  favor  of  the  American  claims.  However, 
having  found  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Colonies  were  not 
satisfied  with  this  plan  of  conduct,  a  few  weeks  ago  he  pub 
lished  in  his  paper  a  short  apology,  in  which  he  assured  the 
public  that  he  would  be  cautious  for  the  future  of  giving  any 
further  offence.  To  this  declaration  he  resolves  to  adhere,  and 
he  cannot  but  hope  for  the  patronage  of  the  public,  so  long  as 
his  conduct  shall  be  found  to  correspond  with  it.  It  is  his 
wish  and  ambition  to  be  an  useful  member  of  society. 
Although  an  Englishman  by  birth,  he  is  an  American  by 
choice,  and  he  is  desirous  of  devoting  his  life,  in  the  business 
of  his  profession,  to  the  service  of  the  country  he  has  adopted 
for  his  own.  He  lately  employed  no  less  than  sixteen  work 
men,  at  near  one  thousand  pounds  annually;  and  his  con 
sumption  of  printing  paper,  the  manufacture  of  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  Connecticut,  and  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  has 
amounted  to  nearly  that  sum.  His  extensive  foreign  corres 
pondence,  his  large  acquaintance  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
the  manner  of  his  education,  are  circumstances  which,  he 
conceives,  have  not  improperly  qualified  him  for  the  station  in 
which  he  wishes  to  continue,  and  in  which  he  will  exert  every 
endeavor  to  be  useful.  rHe  therefore  humbly  submits  his  case 
to  the  honorable  gentlemen  now  assembled  in  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  begs  that  their  determination  may  be  such  as 


560  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

will  secure  him,  especially  as  it  is  the  only  thing  that  can 
effectually  secure  him  in  the  safety  of  his  person,  the  enjoy 
ment  of  his  property,  and  the  uninterrupted  prosecution  of  his 
business. 

"  JAMES  RIVINGTON." 

"  May  20,  1775. 

For  a  time  he  made  his  peace  with  the  Whigs,  and  on 
the  7th  of  June  following,  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
York  resolved,  that,  u  Whereas  James  Rivington,  of  this  city, 
printer,  hath  signed  the  General  Association,  and  has  lately 
published  a  hand-bill  declaring  his  intention  rigidly  to  adhere 
to  the  said  Association ;  and  also  asked  the  pardon  of  the  pub 
lic,  who  have  been  offended  by  his  ill-judged  publications; 
therefore,  he  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  house  and  family ; 
and  this  Congress  doth  recommend  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Colony  not  to  molest  him  in  his  person  or  property." 

But  Rivington,  like  almost  every  other  person  who  once 
incurred  odium  or  suspicion,  fell  off.  He  went  to  Eng 
land,  where  he  furnished  himself  anew  with  materials  for 
printing,  and  was  appointed  king's  printer  for  New  York.  In 
1777  he  returned,  and  resumed  the  publication  of  his  paper, 
but  changed  its  name  to  that  of  the  Royal  Gazette.  At  the 
peace  he  attempted  to  conciliate  the  Whigs,  and  to  keep  up  his 
Gazette,  but  failing  in  this,  his  editorial  labors  ceased  in  1783. 
He  was  possessed  of  fine  talents,  polite  manners,  and  was  well 
informed.  It  is  apparent  from  the  correspondence  of  several  of 
the  leaders  on  the  popular  side,  as  well  as  from  what  has 
been  here  said,  that  his  tact  and  ability  in  conducting  a  news 
paper  were  much  feared,  and  that  his  press  had  more  influ 
ence  over  the  public'  mind  than  any  other  in  the  royal  interest 
in  the  country.  Rivington  died  in  1802,  aged  seventy-eight 
years.  His  son,  John,  a  lieutenant  in  the  eighty-third  regi 
ment,  died  in  England  in  1809. 

ROBIE,  THOMAS.  A  merchant,  of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts. 
He  went  first  to  Halifax,  and  thence  to  England,  but  returned 
to  the  United  States,  and  died  at  Salem.  His  son,  the  Honor- 


OF    AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  561 

able  S.  B.  Robie,  of  Halifax,  was  appointed  Solicitor  General 
of  Nova  Scotia  in  1815  ;  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly 
in  1817,  1819,  and  1820;  Member  of  his  Majesty's  Council  in 
1824 ;  and  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  1825 ;  he  is  a  gentleman 
of  wealth. 

ROBERTS,  FREDERICK.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774. 

ROBERTS,  JAMES.  Of  Surry,  North  Carolina.  His  property 
was  confiscated  in  17</79.  * 

ROBERTS,  JOHN.  Of  the  County  of  Philadelphia.  He  joined 
the  royal  forces  when  Sir  William  Howe  took  possession  of 
Philadelphia,  and  was  tried  for  his  life  in  1778.  Thomas 
McKean,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  at 
that  time  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  presided  at  the  trial. 
Roberts's  offence  was  legally  and  satisfactorily  proved,  and  he 
suffered  death  as  a  traitor  to  his  country.  The  year  following 
his  execution,  his  estate  was  confiscated. 

ROBERTS,  ZACHARIAH.  Of  New  York.  Died  in  Queen's 
County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1833,  aged  seventy-seven. 

ROBERTSON,  ALEXANDER.  Was  a  captain  in  the  service  of 
the  king,  and  at  the  peace  he  went  to  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia. 
In  1834  he  fell  through  the  ice  at  Shelburne,  and  continued  in 
the  water  nearly  an  hour ;  though  he  recovered  his  speech  and 
recollection,  the  shock  was  fatal.  His  age  was  seventy-nine. 
He  was  the  last  of  sixteen  Loyalist  captains  who  were  original 
grantees  of  that  city. 

ROBERTSON,  -  — .A  physician,  of  North  Carolina.  Was 
attached  to  a  Loyalist  corps,  and  was  captured  and  sent  to 
prison  in  1776. 

ROBERTSON,  JAMES.  Was  associated  with  his  brother  Alex 
ander,  who  like  himself  was  a  Loyalist,  and  with  John  Trum- 
bull,  who  was  a  Whig,  in  the  publication  of  the  Norwich 
Packet,  at  Norwich,  Connecticut.  This  connexion,  which 
commenced  in  1773,  ceased  soon  after  the  British  troops  took 
possession  of  New  York  in  1776,  and  the  Robertsons  went  to 
that  city,  and  printed  the  Royal  American  Gazette,  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war.  After  the  peace,  both  James  and 


562  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Alexander  published  a  paper  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia ;  but 
Alexander  soon  died.  James  removed  to  Scotland,  where  he 
was  alive  in  1810,  and  engaged  in  printing  and  bookselling  at 
Edinburgh. 

ROBERTSON,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  James  Robertson, 
of  that  city,  was  also  an  Addresser. 

ROBERTSON,  WILLIAM.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Georgia  Loy 
alists. 

ROBINSON,  BEVERLEY.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  son  of  the 
Honorable  John  Robinson  of  Yirginia,  who  was  President  of  that 
Colony  on  the  retirement  of  Governor  Gooch.  He  emigrated  to 
New  York,  and  married  Susanna,  daughter  of  Frederick  Phil- 
lipse,  Esquire,  who  owned  an  immense  landed  estate  on  the 
Hudson  river.  By  this  connexion,  Mr.  Robinson  became  rich. 
When  the  revolutionary  controversy  commenced,  he  was  living 
upon  that  portion  of  the  Phillipse  estate  which  had  been  given  to 
his  wife,  and  there  he  desired  to  remain  in  the  quiet  enjoyment 
of  country  life,  and  in  the  management  of  his  large  domain. 
That  such  was  his  inclination,  is  asserted  by  the  late  President 
Dwight,  and  is  fully  confirmed  by  circumstances,  and  by  his 
descendants.  He  was  opposed  to  the  measures  of  the  minis 
try,  gave  up  the  use  of  imported  merchandise,  and  clothed 
himself  and  his  family  in  fabrics  of  domestic  manufacture. 
But  he  was  also  opposed  to  the  separation  of  the  Colonies  from 
the  mother  country.  Still,  he  wished  to  take  no  part  in  the 
conflict  of  arms.  The  importunity  of  friends  overruled  his 
own  judgment,  and  he  entered  the  military  service  of  the 
crown.  His  standing  entitled  him  to  high  rank.  Of  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment,  raised  principally  in  New  York, 
by  himself,  he  was  accordingly  commissioned  the  colonel. 
He  also  commanded  the  corps  called  the  Guides  and  Pioneers. 
Of  the  former,  or  the  Loyal  Americans,  his  son  Beverley  was 
lieutenant  colonel,  and  Thomas  Barclay,  major.  Besides  his 
active  duty  in  the  field,  Colonel  Robinson  was  employed  to 
conduct  several  matters  of  consequence ;  and  he  figures  con 
spicuously  in  cases  of  defection  from  the  Whig  cause.  In  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  563 

real  or  supposed  plan  of  the  Whig  leaders  of  Vermont,  to 
return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  or  to  form  some  other  and 
hardly  less  objectionable  alliance  with  officers  of  the  crown, 
he  was  consulted,  and  opened  a  correspondence.  In  the 
treason  of  Arnold,  his  name  and  acts  occur  continually  ;  and  it 
is  supposed  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  traitor's  purpose 
before  it  was  known  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  or  any  other  person. 
And  it  appears  certain,  that  Arnold  addressed  him  a  letter  on 
the  subject  of  going  over  to  the  royal  side,  before  soliciting  the 
command  of  West  Point.  As  the  plot  matured,  he  accompa 
nied  Andre  to  Dobbs's  Ferry  to  meet  Arnold,  according  to  a 
previous  arrangement;  but  an  accident  prevented  an  inter 
view,  and  both  returned  to  New  York.  Subsequently  he  went 
up  the  Hudson  in  the  Vulture,  for  the  purpose  of  furthering 
the  objects  in  view ;  but  failed  in  his  most  material  designs. 
Arnold  now  sent  Smith  on  board  of  the  Vulture  with  a  letter, 
which  was  delivered  to  Colonel  Robinson,  and  on  the  faith  of 
which,  Andre  went  on  shore.  The  treacherous  Whig  had 
been  expected  on  board  of  the  ship  in  person,  and  it  has  been 
said,  that  Robinson  was  much  opposed  to  Andre's  trusting 
himself  to  the  honor  "  of  a  man  who  was  seeking  to  betray 
his  country."  But  the  zealous  young  officer  would  not  listen 
to  the  prudent  counsel,  and  determined  to  embark  upon  the 
duty  from  which  he  never  returned.  That  unfortunate  gentle 
man  was  captured  on  the  23d  of  September,  1780,  and  on  the 
26th,  was  conveyed  a  prisoner  to  Colonel  Robinson's  own 
house,  which,  with  the  lands  adjacent,  had  been  confiscated  by 
the  State,  which  Arnold  had  occupied  as  his  head-quarters, 
and  of  which  Washington  was  then  a  temporary  occupant. 
After  Andre's  trial  and  conviction.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sent 
three  Commissioners  to  the  Whig  camp,  in  the  hope  of  pro 
ducing  a  change  in  the  determination  of  Washington,  and  of 
showing  Andre's  innocence ;  to  this  mission,  Robinson  was 
attached  in  the  character  of  a  witness.  He  had  previously 
addressed  the  Commander-in-Chief  on  the  subject  of  Andre's 
release;  and  as  he  and  Washington  had  been  personal  friends, 
until  political  events  had  produced  a  separation,  he  took 
occasion  to  speak  of  their  former  acquaintance  in  his  letter. 


564  BIOGRAPHTCAL    SKETCHES 

Colonel  Robinson  at  the  peace,  with  a  part  of  his  family, 
went  to  England.  His  name  appears  as  a  member  of  the  first 
Council  of  New  Brunswick,  but  he  never  took  his  seat  at  the 
board.  His  wife  is  included  in  the  confiscation  act  of  New 
York,  and  the  whole  estate  derived  from  her  father  passed 
from  the  family.  The  value  of  her  interest  may  be  estimated 
from  the  fact,  that  the  British  government  granted  her  husband 
the  sum  of  £17,000  sterling,  which,  though  equal  to  eighty 
thousand  dollars,  was  considered  only  a  partial  compensation. 
After  going  to  England,  Colonel  Robinson  lived  in  retirement. 
He  was  unhappy ;  and  did  not  conceal  the  sufferings  which 
preyed  upon  his  spirits.  He  resided  at  Thornbury,  near  Bath, 
and  there  closed  his  days.  Susanna,  his  wife,  died  at  the 
same  place  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four.  His  eldest 
daughter,  Susan  Maria,  died  in  England  in  1833,  aged  seventy- 
two.  The  Robinson  House,  which  was  his  residence  on  the 
Hudson,  and  which  has  become  of  historical  interest,  is  still 
(1840)  standing.  It  is  situated  within  two  or  three  miles  of 
West  Point,  and  on  the  opposite,  or  eastern  side  of  the  river. 
It  is  the  property  of  Richard  D.  Arden,  Esquire.  The  interior 
remains  much  as  it  was  when  its  original  possessors,  and 
Washington,  Arnold,  and  Andre,  were  its  permanent  or  tem 
porary  occupants.  The  rooms  are  low,  the  timbers  are  large, 
and  many  of  them  are  uncovered ;  and  the  fireplaces  are  orna 
mented  with  polished  tiles.  In  the  chamber  which  was  used 
by  Mrs.  Arnold  nothing  has  been  changed ;  and  over  the 
mantel  and  in  the  wood- work  are  carved  the  words,  "  G.  Wal- 
lis,  Lieut.  VI.  Mass.  Regt." 

Colonel  Robinson's  descendants  in  New  Brunswick  possess 
some  relics  of  the  olden  time,  not  destitute  of  interest.  Among 
them  is  a  silver  tea  urn,  of  rich  and  massive»workmanship,  and 
of  considerable  value,  which  was  the  present  of  an  English 
gentleman,  who  was  the  Colonel's  guest  in  New  York  before 
the  Revolution.  This  urn,  according  to  the  family  account, 
was  the  first  article  of  the  kind  in  use  in  America.  Prince 
William  Henry,  who  was  afterwards  King  William  the  Fourth, 
enjoyed  Colonel  Robinson's  hospitality  in  New  York  at  a  later 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  565 

day,  and  the  circumstance  may  have  contributed  something  to 
the  advancement  of  the  family.  The  Robinsons  were  unques 
tionably  immediate  sufferers  from  the  events  which  drove  them 
into  exile.  Towards  the  Loyalists,  the  British  government 
evinced  much  liberality,  and,  if  viewed  as  a  body,  the  com 
pensation  which  they  received,  probably,  fully  covered  their 
losses.  The  aggregate  of  the  money  grants,  it  cannot  be  men 
tioned  too  often,  was  but  little  short  of  sixteen  millions  of  dol 
lars  ;  while  large  tracts  of  lands,  pensions,  half-pay,  and 
offices  with  handsome  salaries,  and  held  upon  a  life-tenure, 
were  freely  bestowed.  Yet  individuals  who  possessed  estates 
of  unfixed  or  prospective  value,  or  who  were  unable  to  exhibit 
sufficient  proof  of  their  claims,  were  losers.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Loyalists  who  owed  as  much  as  the  property  which 
they  had  in  possession  was  worth,  and  yet  claimed  and  received 
of  the  government  precisely  as  though  they  owed  nothing, 
were  gainers. 

The  family  of  which  we  are  speaking  belonged  to  the  class 
first  mentioned.  But  in  considering  the  present  value  of  Mrs. 
Robinson's  portion  of  the  Phillipse  Manor,  it  ought  not  to  be 
overlooked,  that  no  inconsiderable  part  of  it  arises  from  the 
success  of  the  Whigs  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  turn  of  the 
very  events  which  its  original  proprietors  resisted.  The  rebels 
of  1776  made  New  York  an  independent  —  nay,  more  —  the 
Empire  State.  Had  the  old  families  continued  their  rule;  had 
the  thirteen  Colonies  continued  dependent ;  had  the  resources 
of  the  American  continent  been  developed  only  as  the  mother 
country  permitted ;  had  population,  wealth,  the  facilities  for 
transportation,  manufactures,  and  commerce  increased  only  as 
in  Colonial  possessions  they  ever  have,  and  still  do,  —  how 
much  would  three  quarters  of  a  century  of  mere  time,  of 
additional  years  of  Colonial  vassalage,  have  added  to  the 
value  of  the  Manor  ?  The  descendants  of  the  Loyalists,  then, 
in  estimating  the  worth  of  the  estates  of  their  fathers,  which 
passed  under  the  confiscation  acts,  are  to  be  precluded  from 
every  benefit  derived  from  the  glorious  issue  of  the  rebellion; 
and  they  are  to  be  confined  in  their  computations  to  the  actual 
48 


566  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

value  of  wilderness  lands  at  the  time,  adding  the  probable 
increase  since,  had  the  British  empire  not  been  dismembered 
in  1783.  Tt  is  admitted,  however,  that  Colonel  Robinson  was 
not  amply  compensated  in  money  by  the  government  for 
which  he  sacrificed  fortune,  home,  and  his  native  land.  But 
from  the  account  which  follows,  of  the  distinction  attained  by 
his  children  and  grand-children,  it  will  be  seen,  that  though 
deprived  of  their  inheritance,  they  have  not  been  without  other 
and  substantial  recompense;  and  that  no  persons  of  Loyal 
ist  descent  have  been  or  still  are,  more  favored  in  official 
stations,  and  in  powerful  family  alliances,  than  the  heirs  of 
the  two  daughters  of  Frederick  Phillipse — Susanna  Robin 
son,  and  Mary  Morris.  And  that  this  may  fully  appear,  the 
notice  of  Colonel  Roger  Morris  should  be  read  in  connexion. 

ROBINSON,  BEVERLEY.  Son  of  Colonel  Beverley  Robinson, 
and  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Loyal  American  Regiment,  com 
manded  by  his  father.  Was  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College, 
New  York,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
troubles,  was  a  student  of  law  in  the  office  of  James  Duane. 
His  wife,  Nancy,  whom  he  married  during  the  war,  was  the 
daughter  of  the  Reverend  Henry  Barclay,  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  New  York,  and  sister  of  Colonel  Thomas  Barclay 
who  is  noticed  in  these  pages.  At  the  evacuation  of  New 
York,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Robinson  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
a  large  number  of  Loyalists  who  embarked  for  Shelburne, 
Nova  Scotia,  and  who  laid  out  that  place  in  a  very  handsome 
and  judicious  manner,  in  the  hope  of  its  becoming  a  town  of 
consequence  and  business.  The  harbor  of  Shelburne  is  re 
puted  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  North  America,  but  though  the 
population  rapidly  rose  to  about  twelve  thousand  persons,  the 
expectations  of  the  projectors  of  the  enterprise  were  not  real 
ized,  and  many  abandoned  Shelburne  for  other  parts  of  British 
America.  Robinson  went  to  New  Brunswick,  and  resided 
principally  at  and  near  the  city  of  St.  John.  His  deprivations 
and  sufferings  for  a  considerable  time  after  leaving  New  York 
were  great ;  these  were  finally  relieved  by  the  receipt  of  half- 
pay  as  an  officer  in  the  service  of  the  crown.  In  New  Bruns- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  567 

wick  he  was  a  member  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  and  at  the 
period  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  on  the  occurrence  of  war 
between  England  and  France,  was  intrusted  with  the  com 
mand  of  the  regiment  raised  in  that  Colony. 

He  died  in  1816,  at  New  York,  while  on  a  visit  to  two  of 
his  sons,  who  continued  residents  of  that  city.  He  possessed 
great  energy,  and  his  exertions  and  influence  were  sensibly 
felt  in  settling  and  advancing  the  commercial  emporium  of 
New  Brunswick.  In  the  confiscation  act  of  New  York,  by 
which  his  estate  was  forfeited  and  he  was  attainted  and  ban 
ished,  he  is  styled  u  Beverley  Robinson  the  younger."  Colonel 
Robinson  left  six  children.  His  son  Beverley  resides  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  is  a  counsellor  at  law.  Morris  resides 
also  at  New  York,  was  cashier  of  the  Branch  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  is  President  of  the  Life  Insurance  Company ; 
a  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Alexander  Slidell  McKenzie,  Esquire, 
of  the  United  States  Navy.  Frederick  Phillipse  is  auditor- 
general  of  New  Brunswick,  and  lives  at  Fredericton.  John 
is  a  lieutenant  in  the  British  army,  enjoys  half-pay,  and  lives 
near  Fredericton.  William  Henry  is  a  retired  major  in  the 
British  army,  and  resides  in  New  Brunswick.  Susan,  the 
remaining  child,  is  the  wife  of  George  Lee,  Esquire,  a  half- 
pay  officer  of  the  British  army,  who  lives  on  the  river  St. 
John. 

ROBINSON,  CHRISTOPHER.  A  relative  of  Colonel  Beverley 
Robinson.  Was  an  officer  in  the  Queen's  Rangers.  He  set 
tled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  received  the  grant  of  a 
city  lot,  but  removed  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  a  crown  officer 
in  that  Colony  in  1813.  He  went,  subsequently,  to  Upper 
Canada,  where  he  died.  His  son,  the  Honorable  John  Bever 
ley  Robinson,  is,  at  the  present  time,  one  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  public  men  in  that  Colony.  He  was  born  in  Upper 
Canada,  but  received  a  legal  education  in  England,  and  was 
there  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  returned  while  yet  young, 
served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  in  several  battles.  After 
holding  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Assembly  for  ten  years,  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Council  and  attorney-general. 


568  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

During  the  recent  insurrection  in  Canada,  he  took  his  musket 
and  went  into  the  ranks  accompanied  by  his  two  sons.  When 
the  two  Colonies  were  united  under  one  government  hy  the 
late  act  of  parliament,  he  was  President  of  the  Council,  but 
lost  that  post  and  its  emoluments  by  the  change.  He  was 
however,  elevated  to  the  place  of  Chief  Justice  of  Canada 
West,  and  in  1846  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  General  to 
the  office  of  Deputy  Governor  of  the  same  division  of  the 
Colony,  (formerly  Upper  Canada.) 

ROBINSON,  SIR  FREDERICK  PHILLIPSE,  G.  C.  B.  Of  New  York. 
Son  of  Colonel  Beverley  Robinson.  He  entered  the  king's  ser 
vice  early  in  the  Revolution,  and  at  the  peace  retired  to  Eng 
land  with  his  father.  He  was  continued  in  the  British  army, 
and  is  now  a  Lieutenant  General,  and  has  received  the  honor 
of  knighthood.  He  was  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and 
saw  much  hard  duty.  At  the  storming  of  St.  Sebastian 
he  was  dangerously  wounded.  He  was  in  the  battles  of 
Vittoria,  Nive,  Authes,  and  Toulouse.  During  the  war  of 
1812  he  came  to  America,  and  was  employed  in  Canada.  He 
commanded  the  British  force  in  the  attack  on  Plattsburgh, 
under  Prevost,  and  protested  against  the  order  of  his  superior, 
when  directed  to  retire,  and  because,  from  the  position  of  his 
troops,  he  was  of  the  opinion,  that  his  loss  of  men  would  be 
greater  in  a  retreat,  than  in  an  advance  upon  the  American 
works.  After  the  conclusion  of  hostilities  he  embarked  at 
New  York  for  England.  On  his  journey  from  Canada,  he 
stopped  at  the  Highlands  to  visit  the  place  of  his  birth  and 
the  scenes  of  his  youth.  A  nephew  relates  that  "  he  wept  like 
a  child,"  as  he  saw  and  recollected  the  spots  and  objects  once 
familiar  to  him.  Sir  Frederick  now  (1846)  lives  at  Brighton, 
England,  and  is  the  only  surviving  child  of  his  father.  His 
daughter,  Maria  Susanna,  married  Hamilton  Charles  James 
Hamilton,  her  Majesty's  minister  to  Rio  Janeiro. 

ROBINSON,  MORRIS.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Colonel  Beverley 
Robinson.  He  accepted  a  commission  under  the  crown,  and 
was  a  captain  in  the  Queen's  Rangers.  When  that  corps  was 
disbanded  at  the  peace,  most  of  the  officers  were  dismissed 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  569 

from  service,  and  many  of  them  —  as  is  seen  in  this  volume  — 
settled  in  New  Brunswick.  But  Captain  Robinson,  partici 
pating  in  the  good  fortune  of  his  family,  was  continued  in 
commission.  At  the  time  of  his  decease  he  was  a  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  assistant  barrack -master  general,  in  the  British 
army.  He  died  at  Gibraltar  in  1815,  aged  fifty-six.  His  wife 
was  a  sister  of  Captain  Waring,  of  the  British  navy.  His 
daughter,  Margaret  Ann,  wife  of  Reverend  J.  Cross,  died  at 
Thornbury,  England,  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  His 
son  Beverley  is  a  captain  in  the  Royal  Artillery,  and  resides  at 
Ross,  Herefordshire.  Frederick  is  a  staff  officer  in  the  British 
army.  John  De  Lancey  is  a  lieutenant  in  the  royal  navy,  on 
half-pay.  Oliver  De  Lancey,  his  remaining  son,  is  major  in 
the  Queen's  Regiment.  His  daughters,  Susan  and  Joanna, 
reside  in  New  Brunswick.  The  first  is  the  wife  of  the  Hon 
orable  Robert  Parker,  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  and  the 
latter,  the  wife  of  Robert  F.  Hazen,  Esquire,  barrister  at  law, 
master  in  chancery,  and  formerly  mayor  of  the  city  of  St. 
John. 

ROBINSON,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Colonel  Beverley 
Robinson.  During  the  Revolution,  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment,  commanded  by  his  father,  and  when 
the  corps  was  disbanded  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and 
received  half-pay.  He  embarked,  and  successfully,  in  com 
mercial  pursuits,  and  held  distinguished  public  stations.  He 
was  deputy  paymaster-general  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  the 
Colony,  a  member  of  the  Council,  treasurer  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  mayor  of  St.  John,  and  president  of  the  first  bank  char 
tered  in  that  city  and  in  the  Colony.  He  died  at  St.  John  in 
1828,  aged  sixty-seven.  Elisabeth,  his  wife,  and  daughter  of 
the  Honorable  George  D.  Ludlow,  Chief  Justice  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  died  in  the  south  of  France,  while  there  for  the  benefit 
of  her  health.  His  daughter,  Frances  Maria,  wife  of  Colonel 
Joshua  Wilson,  of  Roseville,  near  Wexford,  Ireland,  died  at 
Bath.  England,  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  forty-two.  Five  sons 
survive.  William  Henry  is  deputy  commissary-general  in  the 
British  army ;  Beverley  is  treasurer  of  New  Brunswick  j  George 
48* 


570  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Duncan  is  lieutenant-colonel  of  St.  John  city  light  infantry,  and 
was  lately  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly;  Daniel  Lud- 
low  is  a  barrister  at  law,  and  registrar  of  the  Court  of  Chan 
cery  ;  and  John  Morris  is  a  barrister  at  law,  registrar  of  the 
Court  of  Vice  Admiralty,  and  a  Master  in  Chancery. 

ROBINSON,  JOHN.  Went  from  some  part  of  New  England  to 
St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  town.  He  died  there  in  1807, 
aged  fifty-three.  Lydia,  his  widow,  died  at  St.  Andrew  in 
1820,  aged  fifty-five. 

ROBINSON,  JOHN.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  1783 ;  died  at  Port 
land,  New  Brunswick,  1839,  aged  ninety-one. 

ROBINSON,  JOSEPH.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  com 
mission  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston.  Estate  confis 
cated. 

ROBINSON,  ROBERT.  Of  New  Hampshire.  An  ensign  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished 
in  1778. 

ROBINSON,  THOMAS.  Of  Sussex  on  Delaware.  In  July,  1775, 
the  Sussex  County  Committee  took  him  in  hand  for  his  acts 
and  words,  and  unanimously  declared  that  he  was  "  an  enemy 
to  his  country,  and  a  contumacious  opposer  of  liberty  and  the 
natural  rights  of  mankind."  His  offences  were  various.  Peter 
Watson  swore,  that,  "  being  at  Robinson's  store,  he  saw  his 
clerk,  John  Gozlin,  weigh  and  sell  two  small  parcels  of  bohea- 
tea,  one  of  which  he  delivered  to  a  girl,  and  the  other  to 
Leatherberry  Barker's  wife."  Robert  Butcher  testified,  that 
Robinson  said  to  him,  the  Whig  Committees  "  were  a  pack 
of  fools  for  taking  up  arms  against  the  king,  that  our  char 
ters  were  not  annihilated,  changed  or  altered  by  the  late  acts 
of  parliament,"  &c.  Nathaniel  Mitchell  testified,  that  Rob 
inson  had  declared  to  him,  "  the  present  Congress  were  an  un 
constitutional  body  of  men,  and  also,  that  the  great  men  were 
pushing  on  the  common  people  between  them  and  all  danger." 
After  hearing  this  evidence,  the  Committee  summoned  Robin 
son  to  appear  before  them  to  answer ;  but  he  returned  word, 
that  "  he  desired  his  compliments  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Com- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  571 

mittee,  and  to  acquaint  them  that  he  did  not,  nor  could  not, 
think  of  coming  before  them,  unless  he  could  bring  forty  or 
fifty  armed  men  with  him."  These  "compliments"  were 
voted  "  to  be  insulting  and  injurious,"  and  a  Resolution  pro 
nouncing  his  defection  from  the  Whig  cause  followed.  In  1778 
he  was  ordered  to  surrender  himself  for  trial,  or  stand  attainted 
of  treason. 

ROBINSON,  SIR  WILLIAM  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Colonel 
Beverley  Robinson.  He  accompanied  his  father  to  England, 
and  was  appointed  to  a  place  in  the  commissariat  department 
of  the  British  army,  of  which,  at  his  decease,  he  was  the  head. 
For  his  long  and  faithful  services  he  received  the  honor  of 
knighthood.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  senior  Colonel 
Beverley  Robinson.  He  died  at  Bath,  England,  in  1836,  aged 
seventy-one.  Lady  Robinson,  his  relict,  died  at  Wisthorpe 
House,  Marlow,  England,  in  1843,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 
Sir  William  was  named  for  his  Majesty  William  the  Fourth. 
His  wife  was  Catharine,  a  daughter  of  Cortlaridt  Skinner, 
Attorney  General  of  New  Jersey,  who  was  a  Loyalist,  arid  a 
brigadier-general  in  the  service  of  the  crown  during  the  Revo 
lution.  Three  children  of  Sir  William  survive.  His  son, 
William  Henry,  is  a  captain  in  the  seventy-second  regiment  of 
the  British  army.  Catharine  Beverley,  is  the  wife  of  Major 
General  Smelt,  of  the  British  army.  Elisabeth,  is  the  wife  of 
William  Henry  Robinson  (her  cousin),  deputy  commissary- 
general  in  the  British  army,  and  son  of  the  Honorable  John 
Robinson. 

ROBBINS,  EPHRAIM.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  Mem 
ber  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

ROBBINS,  JOSEPH.  A  native  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts.  He 
died  at  Chebogue,  Nova  Scotia,  1839,  aged  eighty-two.  His 
descendants  at  the  time  of  his  decease  were  two  hundred  and 
two,  namely,  thirteen  children,  ninety  grandchildren,  and 
ninety-nine  great-grandchildren. 

ROBBINS,  WILLIAM.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

ROBBINS.     Seven  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 


572  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
John,  Jacob,  Jeremiah,  Samuel,  Isaac,  John  junior,  and  Ste 
phen. 

ROBINS,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers.  He  was 
at  the  Island  of  St.  John,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  before  the 
close  of  1782,  and  invited  other  Loyalists  to  join  those  already 
there. 

ROCHFORD,  THOMAS.  Innkeeper,  of  Jamaica,  New  York.  In 
May,  1778,  he  informed  "  the  gentlemen  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  inhabitants  of  New  York,  that  they  can  have  breakfasts 
and  dinners  at  the  shortest  notice,"  and  that  he  "  had  laid  in 
an  assortment  of  liquors  of  the  best  quality."  In  July,  1779, 
he  advertised  that  he  had  removed  to  the  Queen's  Head,  and 
was  "  grateful  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  army  and  navy;  "  while 
in  October  of  that  year  it  was  announced,  that  tickets  for  the 
Accession  Ball  were  to  be  had  at  his  house.  In  1781  he  re 
moved  a  second  time,  and  begged  to  inform  "  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  that  at  his  new  quarters  he  has  an  elegant  garden, 
with  arbors,  bowers,  alcoves,  grottos,  naiads,  dryads,  hama 
dryads."  These  trifling  incidents  show  that,  though  a  civil 
war  was  raging,  men  and  women  were  not  wholly  inattentive 
to  matters  that  gratified  the  appetite,  the  eye,  and  the  taste. 

ROGERS,  DANIEL.  Minister,  of  Littleton,  Massachusetts. 
Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1725.  He  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  John  Rogers,  who  suffered  at  Smithfield  in 
1555  ;  and  some  account  of  those  of  the  martyr's  name  and 
blood  who  came  to  New  England,  may  very  properly  be  given 
in  speaking  of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  especially  as  several 
of  them  were  clergymen,  and  are  distinguished  in  our  annals. 
The  first  who  emigrated  to  America  was  the  Reverend  Na 
thaniel  Rogers,  son  of  the  Reverend  John  Rogers,  of  Dedham, 
England,  and  grandson  of  the  Reverend  John  Rogers,  the  mar 
tyr,  who  was  born  in  1598,  was  educated  at  Emanuel  College, 
Cambridge,  and  arrived  in  Massachusetts  in  1636.  He  settled 
at  Ipswich  in  1639,  as  successor  of  the  Reverend  Nathaniel 
Ward,  author  of  the  Simple  Cobbler  of  Aggawam  in  Amer 
ica,  and  as  colleague  of  the  Reverend  John  Norton.  He 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  573 

died  at  Ipswich  in  1655,  aged  fifty-seven.  He  was  eminent 
for  talents,  eloquence,  humility,  and  modesty.  The  second 
was  the  Reverend  Ezekiel  Rogers,  a  son  of  Richard  Rogers, 
and  cousin  of  Nathaniel  Rogers,  who  was  born  in  England  in 
1590,  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  became  chaplain  to  Sir 
Francis  Barrington.  He  joined  his  kinsman  in  Massachusetts 
in  1638,  and  commenced  a  plantation,  and  was  ordained  at 
Rowley  in  1639.  He  died  in  1661,  aged  seventy,  after  a 
lingering  illness.  Like  his  cousin,  he  was  a  man  of  ability 
and  eloquence.  But  he  possessed  some  peculiar  opinions,  and 
in  an  election  sermon,  preached  in  1643,  he  exhorted  the  people 
not  to  elect  the  same  person  for  their  governor  for  two  succes 
sive  years.  He  bequeathed  his  library  to  Harvard  University, 
and  his  house  and  lands  to  the  town  of  Rowley  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  ministry.  He  suffered  much  affliction  and  pecu 
niary  loss.  He  was  three  times  married ;  his  third  wife  was 
a  daughter  of  the  Reverend  John  Wilson,  the  first  minister 
of  Boston.  His  children  all  died  in  his  life-time,  and  this 
branch  of  the  family  became  extinct,  therefore,  at  his  de 
cease. 

But  the  martyr's  lineage  was  perpetuated  by  Nathaniel 
Rogers,  first  mentioned,  who  left  a  daughter  and  a  son.  This 
daughter  married  the  Reverend  William  Hubbard,  a  graduate 
in  the  first  class  of  Harvard  University,  minister  of  Ipswich, 
and  the  early  historian  of  New  England,  who  died  in  1704, 
leaving  a  son  Nathaniel,  who  became  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts.  The  son  was  John  Rogers,  who 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1649,  became  his  father's 
colleague,  but  devoted  himself  finally  to  medicine,  and  with 
drew  from  the  ministry.  In  1682,  after  the  death  of  Doctor 
Oakes,  he  was  elected  President  of  Harvard  University,  but 
did  not  long  survive,  having  died  suddenly  the  day  after  com 
mencement  in  1684,  aged  fifty-three.  His  wife  was  Elisabeth 
Denison,  of  a  distinguished  family.  He  left  one  daughter  and 
three  sons.  The  daughter  married  John  Leverett,  a  President 
of  Harvard  University,  and  a  grandson  of  Governor  Leverett. 
The  sons  were  educated  at  Harvard  University.  Daniel 


574  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

graduated  in  1686,  studied  medicine,  settled  at  Ipswich,  and 
perished  on  Hampton  Beach  in  1722,  or  early  in  the  year  fol 
lowing.  Nathaniel  was  born  at  Ipswich,  February  22,  1669, 
graduated  in  1687,  was  ordained  at  Portsmouth.  New  Hamp 
shire,  May  3,  1699,  and  died  there  October  3,  1723,  aged  fifty- 
three,  and  was  buried  in  the  ancient  bury  ing- ground  called 
the  Point  of  Graves,  leaving  a  widow,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Purkiss,  and  who  died  in  1704,  from  injuries  re 
ceived  in  the  burning  of  the  parsonage  that  year.  His  children 
were  nine,  as  follows  :  Nathaniel,  a  physician ;  Sarah,  the  wife 
of  Reverend  Joshua  Gee,  of  Boston ;  Elisabeth,  who  perished  in 
the  flames  at  the  time  her  mother  was  fatally  injured ;  George,  a 
merchant,  who  married  a  sister  of  Governor  Hutchinson  ;  Elis 
abeth,  wife  of  Reverend  John  Taylor,  of  Milton  j  Mary,  wife 
of  Honorable  Matthew  Livermore,  of  Portsmouth ;  John,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  five  years  ;  Daniel,  an  apothecary  in  Ports 
mouth;  and  Margaret,  who  died,  unmarried,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two.  John  (the  remaining  son  of  John,  President  of 
Harvard  University)  graduated  in  1684,  was  ordained  at 
Ipswich  some  time  after,  and  died  in  1745,  aged  seventy-eight. 
His  three  sons  were  clergymen,  namely,  John,  who  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1711,  settled  in  the  ministry  at 
Kittery,  Maine,  and  died  in  1773,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one, 
leaving  a  son  John,  who  was  minister  of  Gloucester,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  died  in  1782,  aged  sixty-three ;  Nathaniel,  who 
graduated  in  1721,  became  colleague  pastor  of  his  father,  and 
died  in  1775,  aged  seventy-two ;  and  Daniel,  who  graduated 
in  1725,  was  settled  as  a  minister  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire, 
and  died  in  1785,  aged  seventy-nine. 

Daniel,  of  Littleton,  whom  we  are  now  to  notice  very 
briefly,  was  the  son  of  Daniel  the  physician,  who  perished  on 
Hampton  Beach,  as  before  related,  and  was,  therefore,  the 
great,  great,  great,  grandson  of  the  martyr.  He  espoused 
the  loyal  side,  though  with  moderation  and  prudence  —  pray 
ing  neither  for  the  King  nor  the  Congress.  But  his  house, 
which  is  still  (1847)  standing,  and  occupied  as  the  parson 
age,  was  beset  by  the  multitude,  and  holes  made  by  bullets 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  575 

which  were  fired  at  it  are  yet  to  be  seen.  He  died  in  1782, 
aged  seventy-five.  His  children  were  Jeremiah  Dummer ; 
Daniel ;  a  daughter,  who  married  Abel  Willard,  a  Loyalist  men 
tioned  in  this  work ;  a  daughter,  who  married  Samuel  Park- 
man,  Esquire,  a  gentleman  of  great  wealth  of  Boston ;  and  a 
daughter,  who  married  the  Reverend  Jonathan  Newell,  of 
Stow,  Massachusetts. 

ROGERS,  JEREMIAH  DUMMER.  Son  of  Daniel  Rogers,  and 
great,  great,  great,  great,  grandson  of  John  Rogers,  the  martyr. 
Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1762,  and  after  studying 
law,  commenced  practice  in  Littleton.  In  1774  he  was  one  of 
the  barristers  and  attorneys  who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchin- 
son.  He  took  refuge  in  Boston,  and  after  the  battle  of  Breed's 
Hill,  was  appointed  commissary  to  the  royal  troops  that  con 
tinued  to  occupy  Charlestown,  and  lived  in  a  house  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Unitarian  church  in  that  town, 
where  his  grandson  now  ministers.  At  the  evacuation  of 
Boston  in  1776,  he  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax, 
and  died  in  that  city  in  1784.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  the 
Reverend  Doctor  Peter  Thacher,  minister  of  Brattle  Street 
Church,  Boston.  His  children  were  three  daughters,  and  four 
sons.  The  daughters,  and  Samuel,  one  of  the  sons,  were 
children  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  and  returned  to  Boston, 
where  they  were  educated  by  his  sisters,  the  ladies  mentioned 
in  the  notice  of  his  father.  One  daughter  married  the  late 
David  Ellis,  Esquire,  of  Boston,  whose  son,  the  Reverend 
George  E.  Ellis,  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  is  one  of  the 
ablest  writers  of  the  day ;  another,  married  the  late  Doctor 
William  Spooner,  of  Boston ;  and  the  third,  the  late  Jonathan 
Chapman,  Esquire,  of  Boston.  His  sons  John  and  Daniel 
died  young.  His  son  Samuel,  merchant  in  Boston3  deceased 
in  1832.  Jeremiah  Dummer,  the  other  son,  went  to  England, 
where  he  was  educated  by  an  uncle.  He  became  a  classical 
tutor,  and  Lord  Byron  was  among  his  pupils.  He  visited  his 
relatives  in  Massachusetts  in  1824,  and  was  honored  with  a 
diploma  from  the  University  of  which  so  many  of  his  name  and 
family  were  graduates.  He  had  become  so  much  of  an  Eng- 


576  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

lishman  as  to  feel  strong  prejudices  against  the  civil  and  relig 
ious  institutions  of  the  land  of  his  immediate  ancestry.  He 
returned  to  England,  and  died  at  Nottingham  in  1832,  where 
a  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory. 

ROGERS,  ROBERT.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  the  son  of 
an  early  settler  of  Dunbarton,  New  Hampshire,  and,  disposed 
to  military  life,  entered  the  service  in  the  French  war,  and 
commanded  Rogers's  Rangers,  a  corps  renowned  for  their  ex 
ploits.  After  the  peace  he  returned  to  his  native  Colony,  and 
lived  on  half-pay.  His  subsequent  career  was  one  of  doubtful 
integrity.  In  1766  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Michilli- 
mackinac ;  and,  accused  of  a  plot  to  plunder  his  own  fort  and 
join  the  French,  was  sent  to  Montreal  in  irons.  In  1769  he 
went  to  England,  and  was  presented  to  the  king,  but  was  soon 
imprisoned  for  debt.  As  the  Revolutionary  controversy  dark 
ened,  it  was  supposed  that  he  was  ready  to  side  with  the 
Whigs,  or  with  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  as  chance  or  cir 
cumstances  might  direct.  Towards  the  close  of  1775,  it  was 
rumored  that  he  had  been  in  Canada,  had  accepted  a  commis 
sion  under  the  king,  and  had  been  through  one  of  the  Whig 
encampments  in  the  habit  of  an  Indian ;  his  course  was  there 
fore  closely  watched. 

Doctor  Wheelock,  at  Dartmouth  College,  wrote  at  this  pe 
riod ;  "the  famous  Major  Rogers  came  to  my  house,  from  a 
tavern  in  the  neighborhood,  where  he  called  for  refreshment. 
I  had  never  before  seen  him.  He  was  in  but  an  ordinary  habit 
for  one  of  his  character.  He  treated  me  with  great  respect ; 
said  he  came  from  London  in  July,  and  had  spent  twenty 
days  with  the  Congress  in  Philadelphia,  and  I  forget  how 
many  at  New  York ;  had  been  offered  and  urged  to  take  a 
commission  in  favor  of  the  Colonies;  but,  as  he  was  on 
half-pay  from  the  crown,  he  thought  proper  not  to  accept  it ; 
that  he  had  fought  two  battles  in  Algiers  under  the  Dey ;  that 
he  was  now  on  a  design  to  take  care  of  some  large  grants  of 
land  made  to  him;  that  he  was  going  to  visit  his  sister  at 
Moor's  Town,  and  then  to  return  by  Merrimac  river  to  visit 
his  wife,  whom  he  had  not  yet  seen  since  his  return  from  Eng- 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  577 

land ;  that  he  had  got  a  pass,  or  license  to  travel,  from  the 
Continental  Congress,"  &c.* 

Major  Rogers' s  account  of  himself  and  his  plans  was  prob 
ably  not  wholly  true.  He  actually  had  a  pass  from  Congress, 
but  he  had  been  the  prisoner  of  that  body,  and  had  been  re 
leased  on  his  parole,  and  on  signing  a  certificate,  wherein  he 
"solemnly  promised  arid  engaged  on  the  honor  of  a  gentleman 
and  soldier,  that  he  would  not  bear  arms  against  the  American 
United  Colonies  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  during  the  Amer- 
can  contest  with  Great  Britain."  He  wrote  to  Washington 
soon  after  leaving  Doctor  Wheelock,  that,  "  I  love  America;  it 
is  my  native  country,  and  that  of  my  family,  and  I  intend  to 
spend  the  evening  of  my  days  in  it."  At  this  very  moment  it 
is  possible  that  he  was  a  spy.  In  January,  1776,  Washington 
said:  "I  am  apt  to  believe  the  intelligence  given  to  Doctor 
Wheelock  respecting  Major  Rogers  [having  been  in  Canada] 
was  not  true ;  but  being  much  suspected  of  unfriendly  views  to 
this  country,  his  conduct  should  be  attended  to  with  some  degree 
of  vigilance  and  circumspection."  In  June  of  that  year  the 
Commander-in-Chief  wrote  again  :  "  Upon  information  that. 
Major  Rogers  was  travelling  through  the  country  under  suspi 
cions  circumstances,  I  thought  it  necessary  to  have  him  se 
cured.  I  therefore  sent  after  him.  He  was  taken  at  South 
Amboy,  and  brought  to  New  York.  Upon  examination,  he 
informed  me  that  he  came  from  New  Hampshire,  the  country 
of  his  usual  abode,  where  he  had  left  his  family ;  and  pretended 
he  was  destined  to  Philadelphia  on  business  with  Congress. 

"  As  by  his  own  confession  he  had  crossed  Hudson's  River 
at  New  Windsor,  and  was  taken  so  far  out  of  his  proper  and 
direct  route  to  Philadelphia,  this  consideration,  added  to  the 
length  of  time  he  had  taken  to  perform  his  journey,  his  being 
found  in  so  suspicious  a  place  as  Amboy,  his  unnecessary 
stay  there  on  pretence  of  getting  some  baggage  from  New 
York,  and  an  expectation  of  receiving  money  from  a  person 
here  of  bad  character,  and  in  no  circumstances  to  furnish  him 

*  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  3,  p.  208. 
49 


578  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

out  of  his  own  stock,  the  Major's  reputation,  and  his  being  a 
half-pay  officer,  have  increased  my  jealousies  about  him.  The 
business,  which  he  informs  me  he  has  with  Congress,  is  a  secret 
offer  of  his  services,  to  the  end  that,  in  case  it  should  be  re 
jected,  he  might  have  his  way  left  open  to  an  employment  in 
the  East  Indies,  to  which  he  was  assigned ;  and  in  that  case 
he  flatters  himself  he  will  obtain  leave  of  Congress  to  go  to 
Great  Britain." 

Washington's  suspicions  at  this  time  were  very  strong,  and 
he  sent  Rogers  to  Congress  under  the  care  of  an  officer ;  and 
suggested  to  the  president  of  that  body,  "  Whether  it  would 
not  be  dangerous  to  accept  the  offer  of  his  services."  If,  after 
arriving  at  Philadelphia,  he  did  as  he  told  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  he  intended  to  do,  his  overtures  were  declined;  since 
Congress  directed  that  he  should  return  to  New  Hampshire, 
and  be  disposed  of  as  the  Provincial  Congress  should  deem 
proper  and  necessary.  Every  incident  shows  that  either  he 
waited  a  bid  from  the  Whigs,  that  his  sympathies  were  se 
cretly  with  the  ministerial  party,  or,  that  from  first  to  last  he 
played  a  part.  Whichever  conjecture  be  the  true  one,  he 
soon  after  openly  joined  the  royal  side,  and  notwithstanding 
his  parole  of  honor,  accepted  the  commission  of  colonel,  and 
raised  a  command  called  the  Queen's  Rangers,  a  corps  cele 
brated  throughout  the  contest.  To  encourage  enlistments,  he 
promised  recruits  in  a  printed  circular,  "  their  proportion  of 
all  rebel-lands  "  &c.,  a  pledge  which  he  was  never  able  to  ful 
fil,  but  one  which  may  be  indicative  of  his  own  motives  of 
action.  In  the  fall  of  1776,  while  with  his  corps  at  an  outpost 
near  Marroneck,  he  narrowly  escaped  being  taken  prisoner 
by  a  party  sent  out  by  Lord  Sterling.  Soon  after  this  he  went 
to  England,  and  Simcoe  succeeded  him  as  commander  of 
the  Queen's  Rangers,  In  1778  Colonel  Rogers  was  proscribed 
and  banished  under  the  act  of  New  Hampshire. 

ROGERS,  SAMUEL.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1765.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and 
was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  One  of  the  few  who 
returned  from  banishment,  he  died  at  Boston,  June,  1804,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-seven  years. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  579 

ROGERS.  Five  were  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783.  To  wit :  Thomas,  James,  Patrick,  Nehemiah,  who 
had  been  a  lieutenant  in  some  Loyalist  corps,  and  Fitch.  The 
last  engaged  in  business  as  a  merchant,  but  returned  to  the 
United  States.  William  and  Patrick,  others  of  the  name,  set 
tled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  died  there ;  the  former  at  St. 
John  in  1833,  aged  seventy-three ;  the  latter,  at  Sussex  Vale, 
in  1821.  Nathaniel,  another,  was  quartermaster  of  De  Lan- 
cey's  First  Battalion. 

ROME,  GEORGE.  Of  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  He  was  a 
merchant,  and  carried  on  a  large  business  in  the  whale  fishery. 
A  letter  of  his  to  Doctor  Moffatt,  in  which  he  indulged  in  some 
severe  remarks  upon  the  political  heresies  of  the  time,  and 
especially  upon  the  manner  of  administering  justice  in  the 
Colonies,  found  its  way  to  England,  and  was  thence  transmit 
ted  by  Franklin  in  1772  to  Massachusetts,  with  several  letters 
of  Hutchinson,  Oliver,  and  others.  The  House  of  Represen 
tatives  of  Massachusetts  censured  Rome,  by  resolutions,  but 
did  no  more.  The  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  however,  re 
quired  him  to  acknowledge  himself  the  writer  of  the  commu 
nication,  as  it  appeared  in  print,  and  upon  his  refusal,  com 
mitted  him  to  prison,  but  finally  permitted  him  to  go  at  large. 
In  the  course  of  the  war  he  was  a  contractor  in  the  royal  ser 
vice;  but  went  to  England  previous  to  July,  1779.  In  1780  his 
property  was  confiscated.  At  the  peace  he  was  still  abroad, 
and  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Rhode  Island  Loyalists  who 
had  suffered  losses  to  prosecute  their  claims  to  compensation. 
In  1788,  when  the  commissioners  had  completed  their  duties, 
and  parliament  had  passed  an  act  to  remunerate  the  sufferers, 
he  joined  the  other  agents  in  an  address  of  thanks  to  the 
king. 

ROME,  WILLIAM  H.,  WILLIAM  L  ,  and  JACOB.  Were  grantees 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

ROMICK,  JOSEPH.  Of  Northampton  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

ROOFA,  .     A  captain  in  a  Loyalist  corps.     In  1777  he 

was  taken  in  arms,  and  hanged  at  Esopus,  New  York.     His 


580  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

offence,  as  appeared  at  his  trial,  consisted  in  inducing  per 
sons  of  his  own  sentiments  to  enlist  under  the  royal  banner. 

ROLLO,  ROBERT.  A  captain  of  infantry  in  Arnold's  Ameri 
can  Legion. 

ROOME,  JOHN  L.  C.  In  1778  he  was  an  officer  of  the  cus 
toms  at  New  York,  or  on  Long  Island.  He  was  a  notary 
public  in  the  city  in  1782.  In  July,  1783,  he  was  one  of  the 
fifty-five  Loyalists  who  petitioned  for  grants  of  lands  in  Nova 
Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

ROORBACK,  BARRENT.  Of  New  York.  He  was  educated  at 
a  college,  studied  medicine,  and  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution  was  in  practice.  But  he  abandoned  his  pro 
fession,  entered  the  service,  and  was  a  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
First  Battalion.  During  the  war  he  gave  proofs  of  valor, 
and  continued  in  commission  until  the  peace.  After  the  corps 
was  disbanded,  he  married,  and  established  his  residence  in 
New  York.  In  1806,  though  he  enjoyed  half-pay,  it  is  under 
stood  that  his  circumstances  were  needy  ;  and  joining  Miranda 
in  the  attempt  to  create  a  revolution  in  Caracas,  was  an  enthu 
siast  in  the  cause.  His  rank  at  first  was  that  of  captain  in  the 
first  regiment  of  riflemen,  but  he  was  soon  appointed  major  of 
brigade,  and  finally  a  lieutenant-colonel.  He  appears  to* have 
been  one  of  the  most  popular  officers  engaged  in  the  enter 
prise. 

ROPES,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Was  born 
in  1727,  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1745,  and  died  at 
Salem,  March,  1774,  aged  forty-seven  years.  He  was  repre 
sentative  to  the  General  Court;  a  member  of  the  Council  ; 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and  Judge  of  Probate  for 
the  County  of  Essex ;  and  a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  a  firm  Loyalist.  The  night  before 
his  death,  his  house  was  attacked  by  the  multitude,  and  the 
windows  and  furniture  were  demolished. 

ROSE,  HUGH.  A  physician,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  a  Petitioner  to 
be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown  in  1780 ;  and  John,  of  that 
city,  was  the  same ;  both  were  banished  and  lost  their  estates 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  581 

in  1782.  Alexander,  of  that  State,  was  a  Congratulator  of 
Cornwallis  after  his  success  at  Camden,  and  incurred  the  same 
penalties. 

ROSE,  PETER.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army, 
for  Halifax. 

ROSE,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

ROSEWELL,  WALTER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

Ross,  FINLEY.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  follower  of  Sir 
John  Johnson  to  Canada  in  1776.  After  the  Revolution,  he 
served  in  Europe,  and  was  at  Minden  and  Jena.  He  settled 
at  Charlottenburgh,  Upper  Canada,  where  he  died  in  1830, 
aged  ninety. 

Ross,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

Ross,  JOHN.  Was  an  officer  in  the  Queen's  Rangers.  He 
settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  was  a 
grantee  of  that  city.  He  received  half-pay. 

Ross,  NICHOLAS.  Of  New  York.  He  lived  at  or  near  War- 
rensburgh.  In  1775  he  refused  to  sign  the  Whig  Association. 

Ross,  THOMAS.  Mariner,  of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  settled  on  the  island  of 
Grand  Menan,  Bay  of  Fundy,  where  he  followed  the  sea,  as 
master  mariner.  He  died  in  1804,  while  on  his  passage  home 
from  the  West  Indies.  The  children  who  survived  him,  were 
William,  John,  Margaret,  Barbara,  and  Betsey;  all  of  whom 
are  now  (July,  1844)  deceased,  excepting  John,  who  resides 
at  Grand  Menan. 

Ross,  WILLIAM.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1778  the  Council  of 
Pennsylvania  ordered,  that,  failing  to  appear  and  be  tried  for 
treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

ROTHBUN,  JOSEPH.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  arrived  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  1783. 

ROTTEN,  ROBERT.     A  captain  in  the  King's  Orange  Rangers. 

ROUPELL,  GEORGE.     Deputy  Postmaster  General,   of  South 
Carolina.     Went  to  England.     He  was  in  London  in  1779. 
49* 


582  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ROUTH,  RICHARD.  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  Salem,  Mas 
sachusetts.  Died  in  1801.  He  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage,  on 
his  arrival  in  1774.  In  1776  he  went  to  Halifax  with  the 
British  army.  After  quitting  Massachusetts,  he  was  Collector 
of  the  Customs,  and  Chief  Justice,  of  Newfoundland. 

ROWE,  SAMUEL.  Of  South  Carolina.  Held  a  royal  commis 
sion  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  in  1780.  His  property  was 
confiscated. 

ROWELL,  JAMES.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A  mem 
ber  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

ROWLAND,  ISRAEL.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading. 

ROWLAND,  WILLIAM.  Pilot,  of  Delaware.  To  save  his  prop 
erty  from  confiscation,  he  was  required  by  an  act  of  1778,  to 
surrender  himself  to  some  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
abide  his  trial  for  treason. 

Ro WORTH,  SAMUEL.  A  captain  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Caro 
lina. 

ROYALL,  ISAAC.  Of  Medford.  Massachusetts.  Died  in  Eng 
land,  October,  1781.  He  was  representative  to  the  General 
Court,  and  for  twenty-two  years  a  member  of  the  Council. 
In  1774  he  was  appointed  Councillor  under  the  writ  of  Man 
damus,  but  was  one  of  the  twenty-six  who  were  not  sworn 
into  office.  He  bequeathed  upwards  of  two  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  Worcester  County,  to  found  the  first  law  professorship 
of  Harvard  University,  and  his  bequests  for  other  purposes 
were  numerous  and  liberal.  He  was  proscribed  in  1778,  and 
his  estate  confiscated.  A  daughter  married  the  second  Sir 
William  Pepperell. 

RUGGE,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

RUGELY,  HENRY.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
of  the  crown  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston.  Estate  con 
fiscated. 

RUGGLES,  JOHN.  Of  Hardwick,  Massachusetts.  Son  of  Gen 
eral  Timothy  Ruggles.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished.  He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  there.  His  widow, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  583 

Hannah,  only  daughter  of  Doctor  Thomas  Sackett,  of  New 
York,  died  at  Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1839,  aged  seventy-six. 
His  only  son,  Captain  Timothy  Amherst  Ruggles,  of  the  Nova 
Scotia  Fencibles,  died  at  the  same  place  in  1838,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six.  Three  daughters  were  alive  in  1839. 

RUGGLES,  JOSEPH  and  NATHANIEL.  Of  Hardwick,  Massachu 
setts.  Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

RUGGLES,  RICHARD.  Of  Hardwick,  Massachusetts.  He  went 
to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

RUGGLES,  TIMOTHY.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Assembly  of  Nova  Scotia  many  years.  He  died  at  Granville, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1831.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died  at  that  place, 
1842,  aged  ninety-two. 

RUGGLES,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  the  son  of 
the  Reverend  Timothy  Ruggles,  of  Rochester,  was  born  at 
that  place  in  1711,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1732.  He  appeared  in  public  life  for  the  first  time  in  1736,  as 
the  representative  from  his  native  town.  Removing  to  Sand 
wich,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law,  though  his  father 
had  intended  that  he  should  adopt  his  own  profession.  At 
Sandwich  he  married  a  widow,  opened  a  tavern  and  person 
ally  attended  the  bar  and  stable,  but  continued  his  practice  in 
the  Courts,  where  he  was  generally  opposed  to  Otis.  He 
changed  his  abode  a  second  time,  and  removed  to  Hardwick, 
in  the  County  of  Worcester.  Possessing  military  talents  and 
taste,  he  attained  the  rank  of  brigadier  general,  and  led  a 
body  of  troops  to  join  Sir  William  Johnson  in  the  war  of 
1755.  He  distinguished  himself  in  the  action  with  Baron  de 
Dieskau,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  by  the  gift  of  a  lucrative 
place.  In  1757  he  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Common  Pleas,  and  subsequently  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  bench  of  that  Court.  To  the  Congress  of  nine  Colonies  at 
New  York,  in  1765,  he,  Otis,  and  Patridge,  were  the  dele 
gates  from  Massachusetts.  Ruggles  was  made  president  of 
that  body.  His  conduct  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  the 
Whigs  of  Massachusetts,  and  in  addition  to  a  vote  of  censure 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  reprimanded  in  his 


584  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

place  from  the  Speaker's  chair.  He  offered  reasons  for  his 
course,  which  at  first  he  had  leave  to  insert  upon  the  journal, 
but  after  his  statement  was  considered,  the  liberty  to  insert 
was  revoked.  He  became,  as  the  Revolutionary  quarrel  pro 
gressed,  one  of  the  most  violent  supporters  of  the  measures  of 
the  ministry,  and  he,  and  Otis,  as  the  leaders  of  the  two 
opposing  parties,  were  in  constant  collision  in  the  discussions 
of  the  popular  branch  of  the  government.  In  1774  he  was 
named  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  which  increased  his  unpopu 
larity  to  so  great  a  degree,  that  his  house  was  attacked  at 
night,  and  his  cattle  were  maimed  and  poisoned.  On  the 
22d  of  December  of  that  year,  he  addressed  the  following  note 
to  the  Printers  of  the  Boston  Newspapers. 

"  As  Messrs.  Edes  and  Gill,  in  their  paper  of  Monday,  the 
12th  instant,  were  pleased  to  acquaint  the  public,  '  that  the 
Association  sent  by  Brigadier  Ruggles,  &c.,  to  the  town  of 
Hardwick,  &c.,  together  with  his  son's  certificate  thereof,  and 
the  Resolves  of  the  Provincial  Congress  therein,  must  be 
deferred  till  their  next,'  I  am  so  credulous  as  to  expect  then 
to  have  seen  their  next  paper  adorned  with  the  form  of  an 
Association,  which  would  have  done  honor  to  it,  and,  if  at 
tended  to  and  complied  with  by  the  good  people  of  the  Prov 
ince,  might  have  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  one  very  easily 
to  have  distinguished  such  loyal  subjects  to  the  King,  as  dare 
to  assert  their  rights  to  freedom,  in  all  respects  consistent  with 
the  laws  of  the  land,  from  such  rebellious  ones,  as  under  the 
pretext  of  being  friends  to  liberty,  are  frequently  committing 
the  most  enormous  outrages  upon  the  persons  and  property  of 
such  of  his  Majesty's  peaceable  subjects,  who,  for  want  of 
knowing  who  to  call  upon  (in  these  distracted  times)  for 
assistance,  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  banditti,  whose  cruelties 
surpass  those  of  savages.  But  finding  my  mistake,  I  now  take 
the  liberty  to  send  copies  to  your  several  offices  to  be  published 
in  your  next  papers,  that  so  the  public  may  be  made  more 
acquainted  therewith  than  at  present,  and  may  be  induced  to 
associate  for  the  above  purpose.  And  as  many  of  the  people, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  585 

for  some  time  past,  have  been  arming  themselves,  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  inform  them  that  their  numbers  will  not  appear  so 
large  in  the  field  as  was  imagined  before  it  was  known  that 
independency  was  the  object  in  contemplation ;  since  which 
many  have  associated  in  different  parts  of  the  Province  to 
preserve  their  freedom  and  support  government;  and  as  it 
may  become  necessary  in  a  very  short  time  to  give  convincing 
proofs  of  our  attachment  to  government,  we  shall  be  much 
wanting  to  ourselves  if  we  longer  trample  upon  that  patience, 
which  has  already  endured  to  long-suffering,  and  may,  if  this 
opportunity  be  neglected,  have  a  tendency  to  ripen  many  for 
destruction  who  have  not  been  guilty  of  an  overt  act  of  rebel 
lion,  which  would  be  an  event  diametrically  opposite  to  the 
humane  and  benevolent  intention  of  him  whose  abused  pa 
tience  cannot  endure  forever,  and  who  hath  already,  by  his 
prudent  conduct,  evinced  the  most  tender  regard  for  a  deluded 
people. 

"  TIMOTHY  RUGGLES." 

The  Association  consisted  of  a  preamble  and  six  articles. 
The  principal  were  the  first  and  third,  which  provided; 
"  That  we  will,  upon  all  occasions,  with  our  lives  and  for 
tunes,  stand  by  and  assist  each  other  in  the  defence  of  his  life, 
liberty,  and  property,  whenever  the  same  shall  be  attacked  or 
endangered  by  any  bodies  of  men,  riotously  assembled  upon 
any  pretence,  or  under  any  authority  not  warranted  by  the 
laws  of  the  land." 

And,  "That  we  will  not  acknowledge  or  submit  to  the 
pretended  authority  of  any  Congress,  Committees  of  Corres 
pondence,  or  any  other  unconstitutional  assemblies  of  men ; 
but  will,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives,  if  need  be,  oppose  the  forci 
ble  exercise  of  all  such  authority." 

General  Ruggles's  plan  of  combining  against  the  Whigs 
seems  to  have  been  the  model  of  similar  Associations  formed 
elsewhere,  and  that  in  Reading,  Connecticut,  was  composed  of 
many  members. 

During  his  residence  in   Boston,   (in  which  town  he  had 


586  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

taken  refuge  when  the  above  communication  to  the  printers 
was  sent  to  them),  he  attempted  to  raise  a  corps  of  Loyalists, 
but  did  not  succeed.  At  the  evacuation,  he 'accompanied  the 
royal  army  to  Halifax,  and  from  thence  repaired  to  Long  and 
Staten  Islands,  New  York,  where  the  attempt  to  embody  a 
force  for  the  king's  service  was  renewed.  He  organized  a  body 
of  Loyal  Militia,  about  three  hundred  in  number,  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  performed  much  active  duty.  He  is  named  in 
the  statute  of  Massachusetts  of  1779,  "to  confiscate  the  estates 
of  certain  notorious  conspirators  against  the  government  and 
liberties  of"  that  State,  and  went  into  perpetual  banishment. 
After  many  vicissitudes  incident  to  his  position  in  so  troubled 
times,  he  established  his  residence  in  Nova  Scotia.  Of  the 
beautiful  site  of  Digby  in  that  Colony  he  was  a  proprietor  and 
a  settler.  He  died  in  1798,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 

General  Ruggles  was  a  good  scholar,  and  possessed  powers  of 
mind  of  a  very  high  order.  He  was  a  wit  and  a  misanthrope ; 
and  a  man  of  rude  manners  and  rude  speech.  Many  anec 
dotes  continue  to  be  related  of  him  in  the  town  of  his  nativity, 
which  show  his  shrewdness,  his  sagacity,  his  military  hardi 
hood  and  bravery.  As  a  lawyer,  he  was  an  impressive  pleader, 
and  in  parliamentary  debate,  able  and  ingenious.  That  a 
person  thus  constituted  should  make  enemies,  other  than  those 
which  men  in  prominent  public  stations  usually  acquire,  is  not 
strange,  and  he  had  a  full  share  of  personal  foes.  In  Mrs. 
Warren's  dramatic  piece  of  The  Group,  he  figures  in  the 
character  of  Brigadier  Hate-all.  Numerous  descendants  are 
to  be  met  with  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  avocation  of  inn 
keeper,  adopted  by  the  General  at  Sandwich,  is  not  yet  un 
known  in  the  family. 

RUIN,  GEORGE.  Of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  His 
estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

RULOFSON,  RULOF.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  king  from 
the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  war.  Soon  after  the  peace 
he  settled  in  Hampton,  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  where 
he  was  a  magistrate.  He  died  at  Hampton,  1840,  aged  eighty- 
six,  leaving  a  widow,  six  children,  several  grand  and  great 
grandchildren. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  587 

RUMMER,  RICHARD.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

RUSSEL,  NATHANIEL.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

RUSSELL,  CHARLES.  Son  of  Honorable  James  Russell,  of 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  Univer 
sity  in  1757,  and  died  at  Antigua,  where  he  was  a  physician, 
in  1780.  His  wife  was  the  only  child  of  Colonel  Henry  Vas- 
sall,  of  Cambridge.  By  the  banishment  act  of  1778,  in  which 
he  is  proscribed,  it  appears  that  his  residence  was  at  Lincoln, 
County  of  Middlesex. 

RUSSELL,  EZEKIEL.  Printer,  of  Boston.  Was  born  in  that 
town,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  with  his  brother,  Joseph 
Russell.  In  November,  1771,  he  commenced  a  political  publi 
cation,  called  The  Censor,  which,  during  its  short  existence, 
was  supported  by  adherents  of  the  British  government ;  and 
Lieutenant  Governor  Oliver  was  said  to  have  been  a  contributor. 
Loyalists  of  the  first  character  gave  the  Censor  both  literary 
and  pecuniary  aid ;  but  its  circulation  was  confined  to  a  few 
of  their  own  party,  and  it  was  soon  discontinued.  Russell, 
subsequently,  attempted  to  establish  a  newspaper  at  Salem, 
but  did  not  succeed.  He  again  removed  to  Darivers;  but 
finally  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  obtained  support,  princi 
pally  by  printing  and  selling  ballads,  and  small  pamphlets. 
His  wife  was  an  active  and  industrious  woman,  and  not  only 
assisted  him  in  printing,  but  sometimes  wrote  ballads  on  re 
cent  tragical  events,  which  were  published,  and  had  frequently 
a  considerable  run.  Russell  died,  September,  17963  aged  fifty- 
two  years. 

RUSSELL,  JAMES.  Of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  His  pa 
ternal  ancestor  was  Richard  Russell,  who  settled  in  that  town 
in  1640,  and  was  treasurer  of  the  Colony.  His  mother's  family 
was  also  ancient,  and  highly  respectable.  His  father  was  the 
Honorable  Daniel  Russell.  He  was  born  at  Charlestown  in 
1715,  and  there,  except  during  the  Revolutionary  period,  he 
passed  the  whole  of  his  life.  He  sustained  many  public  offices, 
and  was  a  judge.  In  1774  he  was  appointed  a  Mandamus 


5S8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Councillor,  but  did  not  take  the  official  oath.  He  died  in  1798, 
aged  eighty-two.  A  more  excellent  man  has  seldom  lived. 
He  was  not  solicitous  to  shine,  but  he  was  anxious  to  do  good. 
As  a  son,  a  husband,  brother,  father,  neighbor,  and  friend,  he 
was  all  that  could  be  expected  or  desired.  His  understanding 
was  sound  and  practical ;  and,  possessed  of  great  benevolence 
and  public  spirit,  he  was  incessant  in  his  endeavors  to  promote 
the  happiness  and  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lived.  A  bridge  from  Charlestown  to  Boston  was 
among  the  enterprises  which  he  projected ;  and  he  was  the 
first  person  in  Massachusetts,  probably,  who  conceived  that 
the  plan  of  thus  uniting  the  two  towns  was  practicable.  By 
his  persevering  efforts,  the  work  was  finally  commenced  and 
successfully  accomplished ;  and  the  Charlestown  Bridge  was 
the  first  structure  of  the  kind  ever  built  across  a  broad  river  in 
the  United  States. 

RUSSELL,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

RUSSELL,  JOSEPH.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1808, 
aged  seventy-three. 

RUSSELL,  MATTHEW.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  In  1778 
the  Council  required  him  to  surrender  and  be  tried  for  treason, 
or  to  stand  attainted. 

RUSSELL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780;  was  banished,  and  lost 
his  property  under  the  confiscation  act  of  1782. 

RUSTIN,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A  pro 
tester,  April,  1775. 

RUTHERFORD,  HENRY.  Established  his  residence  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  died  at  Digby  in  that  Colony  in  1808,  aged  fifty- 
five. 

RUTHERFORD,  JAMES.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1777. 

RUTHERFORD,  JOHN.  A  member  of  his  Majesty's  Council  of 
North  Carolina.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1775,  he  was  present 
in  Council,  and  gave  his  advice  to  Governor  Martin  to  issue 
his  Proclamation  to  inhibit  and  forbid  the  meeting  of  the  Whig 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  589 

Convention  at  Newbern,  on  the  3d  of  April  following ;  "  the 
Board,  conceiving  the  highest  detestation  of  such  illegal  meet 
ings,  were  unanimous  in  advising  his  Excellency." 

RUTHERFORD,  THOMAS.  Of  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Assembly  under  the  royal  government,  from  the 
County  of  Cumberland ;  and  for  a  while  appears  to  have  been 
with  the  Whigs.  In  1774  he  was  elected  to  the  Provincial 
Congress,  and  in  1775  was  a  member  of  the  Whig  Convention 
which  Governor  Martin  denounced,  and  which  sustained  the 
proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress ;  and  in  the  military 
organization  of  the  State  he  was  commissioned  a  colonel.  But 
in  1776,  as  he  had  joined  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  Colonel 
Alexander  McAllister  displaced  him  in  the  command  of  the 
Cumberland  County  Regiment.  In  1779  Mr.  Rutherford's 
property  was  confiscated. 

RUTTAN,  PETER.  A  captain  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

RYAN,  JOHN.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  established  a  news 
paper,  and  was  king's  printer.  He  is  now  (1846)  living  at 
Newfoundland,  and  is  queen's  printer  for  that  government. 

RYDER,  BARNARDUS.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signer  of  a 
Declaration  in  1775. 

RYDER,  STEPHEN.  An  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

RYERSON,  PETER,  CORNELIUS,  and  GEORGE.  Of  Queen's  Coun 
ty,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  in  October,  1776. 
Francis  Ryarson,  of  that  County,  went  to  Nova  Scotia  at  the 
peace,  and  settled  in  Annapolis. 

RYKEMAN,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  of  Tory  levies.  He  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Whigs  in  1781,  in  the  action  in  which  Walter  N. 
Butler  was  slain. 

RYSAM,  WILLIAM  JOHNSON.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was 
proscribed  and  banished,  and  his  estate  confiscated. 

SABB,  WILLIAM.     Of  South  Carolina.     In   1782  his   estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 
50 


590  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SACKETT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Ac 
knowledged  allegiance  in  1776,  and  was  an  Addresser  of  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Sterling  in  1779. 

SALKIN,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Went  to  New  Brunswick, 
and  died  at  Mace's  Bay  in  that  Colony  in  1821,  aged  eighty-six. 

SALTONSTALL,  LEVERETT.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  the 
youngest  son  of  Judge  Saltonstall,  and  was  born  December 
25,  1754.  Unlike  his  brother  Richard,  he  bore  arms  against 
his  native  land.  At  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  he  had 
nearly  completed  his  term  of  service  with  a  merchant  of  Bos 
ton.  Becoming  acquainted  with  the  British  officers,  and  fas 
cinated  with  their  profession,  he  accompanied  the  army  to 
Halifax,  and  subsequently  accepted  of  a  commission,  and  was 
engaged  in  several  battles.  A  captain  under  Cornwallis,  he 
fell  a  victim  to  the  fatigues  of  a  camp  life,  and  died  of  con 
sumption  at  New  York,  December  20,  1782,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight. 

SALTONSTALL,  RICHARD.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  de 
scended  from  a  most  respectable  and  ancient  family,  and  was 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Honorable  Richard  Saltonstall,  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  Massachusetts.  Colonel  Richard  Saltonstall 
was  born  April  5,  1732,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1751.  In  1754  he  was  commissioned  to  command  a  regi 
ment,  and  was  in  active  service  in  the  French  war  that  imme 
diately  followed.  Soon  after  the  peace  he  was  appointed 
sheriff  of  the  County  of  Essex,  and  held  that  office  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  much  beloved  by 
his  neighbors,  and  notwithstanding  his  well  known  loyal  prin 
ciples,  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  lost  his  popularity.  At 
length  he  was  compelled  to  leave  Haverhill,  the  place  of  his 
residence,  and  take  refuge  in  Boston,  to  avoid  the  violence  of 
mobs.  He  left  the  country  in  1775,  and  remained  in  England 
throughout  the  war, 'until  his  death,  October  1,  1785,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two.  He  was  never  married.  The  king  granted 
him  a  pension. 

Colonel  Saltonstall  was  a  good  man,  and  is  entitled  to  the  re 
spect  of  all.  He  refused  to  enter  the  service  of  the  crown,  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  591 

feeling  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  could  not  conscientiously 
bear  arms  on  the  side  of  the  Whigs,  he  went  into  exile.  His 
military  knowledge  and  skill  were  very  considerable,  and  it 
was  supposed,  that,  had  he  embraced  the  popular  cause,  he 
might  have  had  a  high  command  in  the  patriot  army.  In  one 
of  his  last  letters  written  to  his  American  friends,  he  said  :  "I 
have  no  remorse  of  conscience  for  my  past  conduct.  I  have 
had  more  satisfaction  in  a  private  life  here,  than  I  should  have 
had  in  being  next  in  command  to  General  Washington,  where 
I  must  have  acted  in  conformity  to  the  dictates  of  others, 
regardless  of  my  own  feelings." 

His  integrity,  frankness,  and  benevolence,  his  politeness, 
superior  understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  world,  won  gen 
eral  praise  and  admiration.  His  remote  family  friends  in 
England  received  him  kindly,  and  after  his  decease,  erected  a 
monument  to  his  memory.  His  brother  Nathaniel,  a  physi 
cian  of  eminence,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University  in 
1766,  was  a  firm  Whig.  His  brother  Leverett  was  a  Loyalist. 
His  sister  Abigail  married  Colonel  George  Watson  of  Ply 
mouth;  and  his  sister  Mary  was  the  wife  of  the  Reverend 
Moses  Badger,  an  Episcopal  clergyman  and  a  Loyalist. 

SAMPSON,  JOHN.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  member  of  the  Coun 
cil.  He  concurred  with  Governor  Martin  in  his  efforts  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  unlawful  meetings  and  assemblies  of  the  Whigs. 

SAMPSON,  JOHN.    Of  Boston.     An  Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775. 

SAMS,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

SANDEMAN,  ROBERT.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  sect  of 
Sandemanians,  many  of  whom,  like  himself,  were  Loyalists, 
and  are  mentioned  in  these  pages.  His  first  society  was  estab 
lished  at  Boston  in  1764.  Subsequently,  several  were  formed 
in  Connecticut,  and  some  in  other  parts  of  New  England.  The 
Sandemanians  gave  the  Whigs  no  little  trouble.  Mr.  Sande- 
man  died  at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  in  1771,  aged  fifty-three. 
He  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  was  educated  at  St.  Andrew's. 
Before  coming  to  America  he  organized  a  church  of  his  faith 
in  London. 


592 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


SANDFORD,  JOHN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

SANDFORD,  THOMAS.  A  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

SANDS,  EDWARD.  Served  the  crown  as  a  military  officer, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  war  retired  to  New  Brunswick,  and 
received  half-pay.  He  settled  at  St.  John  ;  was  a  major  in  the 
militia,  an  alderman  of  the  city,  and  coroner  for  the  city  and 
county.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1803,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
three. 

SANDS,  SIMON,  JOHN,  PELHAM,  GEORGE,  HENRY,  SAMUEL,  and 
BENJAMIN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowledged 
allegiance  October,  1776. 

SANGER,  ELEAZAR.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished. 

SANTICROIX,  .  A  captain  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists.  He 

went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one 
of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He  removed  to  Digby,  Nova 
Scotia. 

SAPPINFIELD,  MATTHIAS.  Of  Rowan,  North  Carolina.  His 
property  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

SARGENT,  JOHN.  Merchant,  of  Salem.  His  name  stands 
first  among  the  Salem  Addressers  of  Gage  on  his  arrival  in 
1774.  He  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  He  went  to 
England. 

SARGENT,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  King's  American  Reg 
iment. 

SARGENT,  WINWOOD.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Cam 
bridge,  Massachusetts.  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  this  gentleman 
should  have  a  place  in  this  volume.  But  I  find  that  a  Reverend 
Mr.  Sargent,  of  Massachusetts,  died  in  exile  during  the  war, 
and  that  Mary,  "  relict  of  late  Reverend  Winwood  Sargent, 
formerly  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Cambridge,  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  daughter  of  Reverend  Arthur  Browne,  rector  of 
Queen's  Chapel,  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,"  died  at  Bath, 
England,  in  1808. 

SAUNDERS,  HENRY.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  593 

SAUNDERS,  JOHN.  Of  New  Jersey.  Went  to  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  died  there.  Elisabeth,  his  widow,  a  native 
of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  deceased  at  Hampton,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1838,  aged  eighty-six,  leaving  nine  children, 
seventy-one  grandchildren,  and  forty-five  great-grandchildren. 

SAUNDERS,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  He  was  descended  from  an 
English  family,  that  adhered  to  the  King  in  the  civil  Avar  be 
tween  Charles  and  the  Round- heads.  His  grandfather  emi 
grated  to  Virginia,  and  acquired  large  landed  estates.  In  July, 
1774,  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  present  at  a  meeting  in 
Princess  Anne  County,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  choosing 
delegates  to  attend  a  convention  of  Whigs  at  Williamsburgh, 
and  was  the  only  one  who  refused  to  sanction  its  proceedings. 
In  August  of  that  year  the  Whigs  formed  a  Provincial  Associ 
ation,  and  held  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  He 
generally  gave  his  attendance ;  but  steadily  refused  to  bind 
himself  to  observe  the  votes  and  resolutions,  which  were 
adopted.  The  Continental  Association  was  formed  before  the 
close  of  1774;  but  he  continued  a  recusant.  The  Committee 
of  the  County,  considering  that  he  was  a  young  man,  and  that 
he  might  be  better  advised,  appointed  some  of  their  number  to 
wait  upon  him  at  his  own  house,  and  expostulate  with  him  on 
his  course  of  conduct ;  but  to  no  purpose.  Some  days  after  their 
visit,  however,  an  intimate  Whig  friend  went  to  him  privately, 
and  pressed  upon  him  the  expediency  of  signing  the  necessary 
agreement,  which,  finally,  he  apparently  consented  to  do.  His 
friend,  on  looking  at  his  signature,  found  written  after  it,  the 
word  "No,"  in  large  characters.  The  Committee  were  indig 
nant  when  informed  of  this,  and  summoned  him  to  appear 
and  answer ;  he  declined  the  notice,  and  was  forthwith  pub 
licly  denounced.  His  Whig  friends  regretted  the  result  of 
their  many  overtures  and  persuasions;  for  "he  had  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  and  for  some  time  past 
had  studied  law,"  and  was  thought  to  possess  much  energy 
and  determination. 

On  Lord  Dunmore's  appeal  to  the  loyalty  of  the  Old  Do 
minion,  Mr.  Saunders  raised  a  troop  of  horse  at  his  own 
50*. 


594  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

expense,  and  joined  the  royal  standard.  He  was  afterwards 
attached  to  the  Queen's  Rangers,  under  Simcoe,  and  was 
a  captain  of  cavalry  in  that  corps.  He  continued  in  service 
during  the  conflict,  was  often  engaged  in  partisan  strifes, 
and  was  twice  wounded.  When  Colonel  Simcoe  retired 
from  the  command  of  the  Rangers,  Major  Armstrong  and 
Captain  Saunders  were  deputed  by  the  officers  to  present  him 
with  an  Address.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  England,  became 
a  member  of  the  Middle  Temple,  and  commenced  the  practice 
of  the  law.  In  1790  he  succeeded  Judge  Putnam,  as  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Brunswick ;  and  was  soon  after 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Council  of  that  Colony.  In  1822, 
on  the  decease  of  Judge  Bliss,  he  was  created  Chief  Justice. 
He  died  at  Fredericton  in  1834,  aged  eighty;  having  spent 
sixty  years  of  his  life  in  the  civil  and  military  service  of  the 
British  crown.  He  possessed  two  estates  in  Virginia,  both  of 
which  were  confiscated.  His  widow,  Ariana-  Margaretta 
Jerkyl,  died  at  Fredericton  in  1845,  in  her  seventy-eighth 
year.  His  daughter  Eliza,  wife  of  Adjutant  Flood,  of  the 
seventy-fourth  regiment,  British  army,  died  at  the  same  place 
in  1821,  aged  twenty-six.  His  only  son,  —  who  bears  the 
name  of  the  commander  of  the  Rangers,  —  John  Simcoe,  has 
held  the  offices  of  Advocate  General ;  Justice  of  a  Court  of 
Judicature ;  member  of  the  Council ;  and  is  the  present  Secre 
tary  of  New  Brunswick. 

SAUNDERS,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SAVAGE,  ABRAHAM.  Tax-gatherer,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

SAVAGE,  ARTHUR.  Of  Boston.  An  auctioneer.  In  1757  his 
place  of  business  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  town  dock.  In 
1755  he  was  appointed  Comptroller  of  the  Customs  at  Fal- 
mouth,  and  removed  to  that  town.  After  the  people  began  to 
resist  the  officers  of  the  revenue,  he  was  often  absent,  when  he 
confided  the  duties  of  his  station  to  Thomas  Child,  the  only 
Whig  officer  of  the  Customs  at  Falmouth.  In  1771  he  was 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  595 

mobbed,  and  soon  after  returned  to  Boston.  At  the  time  of 
this  outrage,  the  collector  was  absent  in  England.  Mr.  Savage, 
as  filling  his  place,  had  ordered  the  revenue  cutter  of  the 
crown  to  seize  a  vessel  of  Mr.  Tyng's,  for  a  violation  of  the 
revenue  laws,  which  was  probably  the  cause  of  the  proceed 
ing.  The  comptroller  was  proscribed  and  banished  by  the 
act  of  1778.  He  had  abandoned  the  country  two  years  previ 
ously,  having  accompanied  the  British  army  at  the  evacuation 
of  Boston,  and  embarked  at  Halifax  for  England  in  the  ship 
Aston  Hall,  July,  1776. 

SAVAGE,  EDWARD.  A  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  South 
Carolina.  He  was  permitted  to  leave  the  country. 

SAVAGE,  JEREMIAH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished, 
and  in  1 782  his  property  was  confiscated. 

SAXTON,  JOHN.     An  ensign  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

SAYLOR,  DAVID.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

SAYRE,  JAMES.  An  Episcopal  minister,  of  Connecticut.  I 
suppose  that  he  was  chaplain  of  one  of  De  Lancey's  Battal 
ions,  and  that  he  abandoned  the  situation  in  1777,  "  impelled 
by  distress,  severity  of  treatment,  and  of  duty."  He  was  in 
New  Brunswick  after  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  grantee  of 
the  city  of  St.  John ;  but  returned  to  the  United  States. 

SAYRE,  JOHN.  An  Episcopal  minister,  at  Fairfield,  Con 
necticut.  He  was  employed,  and  stationed  at  Fairfield, 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  For 
eign  Parts,  several  years  before  the  Revolution.  When 
Try  on,  in  1779,  appeared  in  force  to  bum  that  town,  Mr. 
Sayre's  well  known  attachment  to  the  crown,  and  the  sacri 
fices  which  he  had  made  in  behalf  of  the  royal  cause,  gave 
him  some  influence  with  the  incendiary  Governor,  which, 
at  first,  was  exerted  to  prevent  indiscriminate  conflagration. 
But,  before  the  dreadful  deed  was  fully  consummated,  his  con 
duct  caused  so  much  indignation  among  the  people,  that,  with 
his  family,  he  was  compelled  to  quit  the  town,  and  embark 


596  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

with  Tryon.  Mr.  Sayre  seems  to  have  been  involved  in  this 
calamity  equally  with  the  Whigs,  and  to  have  lost  nearly  all 
his  property  at  Fan-field.  The  church  building,  in  which  he 
officiated,  was  consumed.  He  fled  to  Flushing,  New  York. 
In  1781  he  was  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  was  still  there 
in  July,  1783,  when  he  was  a  petitioner  for  a  grant  of  lands  in 
Nova  Scotia,  and  one  of  the  fifty-five.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

He  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  during  the  last- 
mentioned  year,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  was 
appointed  by  Lord  Dorchester  one  of  the  agents  of  government 
to  locate  the  lands  granted  to  the  Loyalists  who  settled  in  New 
Brunswick.  Mr.  Sayre  continued  in  the  Colony  for  the  re 
mainder  of  his  life,  and  died  at  Maugerville,  on  the  river 
St.  John.  The  following  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  the 
society  above  named,  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1779,  is 
of  interest.  Some  allowance,  of  course,  is  to  be  made  for  his 
excited  state  of  feeling,  as  it  will  be  seen  that  he  had  but  just 
passed  through  the  conflagration  at  Fairneld,  and,  as  he  states, 
had  been  "  left  with  a  family,  consisting  of  a  wife  and  eight 
children,  destitute  of  food,  house,  and  raiment." 

"  The  circumstances  of  the  Fairfield  mission,  when  I  first 
went  to  it,  are  already  known  to  the  Society ;  and  since  I 
wrote  to  them,  the  congregations  have  been  so  far  from  dimin 
ishing,  that  they  have  considerably  increased,  not  only  in 
numbers,  but  also  in  attachment  to  the  church ;  notwithstand 
ing  the  many  oppositions  to  religion  and  loyalty  which  have 
happened  since.  And  I  have  great  reason  to  think,  that  many 
who  did  not  actually  join  us,  were  prevented  merely  by  their 
apprehensions  of  a  participation  in  our  persecutions,  for  which, 
it,  seems,  their  minds  were  not  yet  sufficiently  prepared.  And 
I  believe,  that  if  it  shall  please  the  Lord  to  restore  the  consti 
tutional  government  to  Connecticut,  the  church  will  greatly 
increase  in  that  province.  The  people  of  the  parish  of  North- 
Fairfield  erected  galleries  in  their  church  shortly  after  they 
came  under  my  care  ;  and  even  with  that  addition,  it  soon  be 
came  incapable  of  accommodating  the  congregation.  They 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  597 

intended  to  have  finished  it  completely,  but  were  discouraged 
by  the  many  abuses  which  their  church  shared  in  common 
with  the  other  churches  in  the  mission.  Shooting  bullets 
through  them,  breaking  the  windows,  stripping  off  the  hang 
ings,  carrying  off  the  leads  (even  such  as  were  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  building),  and  the  most  beastly  defile 
ments,  make  but  a  part  of  the  insults  which  were  offered  to 
them.  Add  to  this,  that  my  people  in  general  have  been 
greatly  oppressed,  merely  on  account  of  their  attachment  to 
their  church  and  king.  Their  persons  have  been  frequently 
abused,  many  of  them  have  been  imprisoned  on  the  most 
frivolous  pretences,  and  their  imprisonment  aggravated  with 
many  circumstances  of  cruelty.  They  have  been  heavily 
fined,  for  refusing  to  rise  in  arms  against  their  sovereign,  and 
their  legal  constitution  ;  and  many,  thinking  their  situation 
intolerable  at  home,  have,  by  flight,  sought  relief  in  the  king's 
protection,  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  suffering  all  the  pungent 
feelings  and  reflections  which  must  attend  a  separation  from 
their  families  under  such  circumstances ;  and  not  a  few,  im 
patient  of  so  miserable  a  servitude,  and  stimulated  by  repeated 
injuries,  have  entered  into  the  service,  that  they  might  con 
tribute  their  aid  for  the  recovery  of  the  king's  rights,  and  their 
own  liberties.  All  these  things  they  have  endured,  with  a  pa 
tience  and  fortitude  indicative  of  the  power  of  religion,  and 
the  steadfastness  of  their  virtue  in  the  face  of  an  opposition 
very  violent  and  formidable. 

"  The  loss  of  all  my  books  and  papers,  puts  it  out  of  my 
power  to  transmit  an  exact  account  of  the  marriages,  funerals, 
and  baptisms,  since  the  first  year  of  my  residence  in  Fan-field, 
but  I  think  they  have  not  greatly  altered  since  that  time. 
There  has  been,  however,  a  considerable  augmentation  in  the 
number  of  communicants.  I  think  on  my  first  going  to  Fair- 
field  they  did  not  exceed  forty.  Some  time  ago  they  were 
considerably  more  than  a  hundred ;  but  lately,  I  believe,  some 
thing  less,  owing  to  refugees,  hinted  at  above.  The  present 
confusions  commenced  shortly  after  my  removal  from  the  mis 
sion  of  Newburgh  to  Fairfield ;  and  foreseeing  the  calamities 


598  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

which  have  befallen  my  people,  I  freely  relinquished  the  rates 
due  to  me  from  them  by  the  laws  of  that  province,  and  in 
formed  them  that  I  should  expect  only  a  bare  subsistence  for 
my  family  during  the  troubles  —  towards  which  the  Society's 
bounty  and  my  medical  employment  also  contributed  —  at  the 
same  time  assuring  them  that  I  desired  only  whatsoever  they 
were  respectively  able,  and  quite  willing  to  give ;  and  (I  will 
say  it  to  their  honor)  my  people  did  not  forsake  or  neglect  me 
in  my  most  threatening  situations,  even  when  their  very  per 
sonal  safety  seemed  to  require  a  very  different  kind  of  conduct. 
Nothing  but  an  opinion  that  it  would  be  expected  of  me,  could 
have  induced  me  to  trouble  the  Society  with  my  personal  con 
cerns.  I  shall  therefore  take  but  little  of  their  time  with  it. 

"For  some  time  after  I  went  to  live  at  Fairfield,  I  lived  in 
tolerable  quiet,  owing  to  the  indecisive  measures  of  that  period, 
though  always  known  to  disapprove  the  public  conduct,  and 
strangely  suspected  of  endeavoring  to  counteract  it.  But  this 
repose  was  soon  interrupted  by  a  public  order  for  disarming  the 
loyalists.  Upon  this  occasion  my  house  was  beset  by  more 
than  two  hundred  horsemen,  whose  design  was  to  demand  my 
arms  ;  but  they  were,  for  that  time,  diverted  from  their  purpose 
by  the  violent  agitation  they  saw  the  terror  of  their  appearance 
had  thrown  my  wife  into ;  and  which,  considering  her  being 
sick,  and  in  the  latter  stages  of  pregnancy,  was  indeed  enough 
to  awaken  some  degree  of  humanity,  even  in  their  breasts. 
After  this,  I  was  confined  for  some  days  to  my  house  and  gar 
den,  by  order  of  the  person  who  commanded  the  militia  of  the 
town ;  for  which  time  I  was  pointed  out  by  the  leaders  of  the 
people  as  an  object  of  their  hatred  and  detestation,  and  very 
few  of  my  neighbors  (who  were  chiefly  dissenters)  would  hold 
any  kind  of  society  with  me,  or  even  with  my  family ;  and  my 
sons  were  frequently  insulted,  and  personally  abused  for  carry 
ing  provision  to  the  jail  from  my  house,  when  some  of  my 
parishioners  were  confined  therein,  as  well  as  on  other  occa 
sions.  After  this,  1  was  advertised  as  an  enemy  to  my  country, 
(by  an  order  of  the  committee)  for  refusing  to  sign  an  associa 
tion,  which  obliged  its  subscribers  to  oppose  the  king  with  life 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  599 

and  fortune,  and  to  withdraw  all  offices  of  even  justice,  hu 
manity,  and  charity,  from  every  recusant.  In  consequence  of 
this  advertisement,  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  hold  any  kind 
of  correspondence,  or  to  have  any  manner  of  dealing  with  me, 
on  pain  of  bringing  themselves  under  the  same  predicament. 
This  order  was  posted  in  every  store,  mill,  mechanical  shop, 
and  public  house,  in  the  county,  and  was  repeatedly  published 
in  the  newspapers ;  but  through  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  we 
wanted  for  nothing,  our  people,  under  cover  of  the  night,  and, 
as  it  were,  by  stealth,  supplying  us  with  plenty  of  the  comforts 
and  necessaries  of  life.  These  measures  proving  insufficient 
to  shake  my  attachment  to  his  majesty's  person  and  govern 
ment,  I  was  at  length  banished  (upon  the  false  and  malicious 
pretence  of  my  being  an  enemy  to  the  good  of  my  country) 
to  a  place  called  New  Britain,  in  Farmington,  about  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  from  Fairfield,  where  I  was  entirely  unknown, 
except  to  one  poor  man,  the  inhabitants  differing  from  me  both 
in  religious  and  political  principles ;  however,  the  family  in 
which  I  lived  showed  me  such  marks  of  kindness  as  they  could, 
and  I  was  treated  with  civility  by  the  neighbors. 

"  In  this  exile  I  remained  about  seven  months,  after  which  I 
was  permitted  to  return  home,  to  be  confined  to  the  parish  of 
Fairfield,  which  is  about  four  miles  in  diameter,  my  people 
having  given  security  in  large  sums  that  I  should  not  trans 
gress  that  limitation,  and  in  that  situation  I  remained  about 
eighteen  months.  After  this,  my  bounds  were  made  co-extensive 
with  those  of  Fairfield  county,  which  was  a  great  satisfaction 
to  me,  as  it  allowed  me  to  visit  the  congregations  of  North- 
Fairfield  and  Stratfield,  who  had  been  so  long  deprived  of  my 
ministry ;  and  so  I  remained,  (officiating  two  Sundays  of  four 
at  Fairfield,  dividing  the  other  two  equally  between  the  two 
other  parishes,)  until  I  came  away.  We  did  not  use  any  part 
of  the  liturgy  lately,  for  I  could  not  make  it  agreeable,  either 
to  my  inclination  or  conscience,  to  mutilate  it,  especially  in  so 
material  a  part  as  that  is,  wherein  our  duties  as  subjects  are 
recognized.  We  met  at  the  usual  hours  every  Sunday,  read 
parts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  and  some  psalms.  All 


600  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

these  were  selected  in  such  a  manner  as  to  convey  such  in 
structions  and  sentiments  as  were  suited  to  our  situation.  We 
sung  psalms  with  the  same  view.  On  the  Sunday  mornings  I 
read  the  homilies  in  their  course,  and  on  the  afternoons  I  ex 
pounded  either  parts  of  the  catechism,  or  some  other  passages 
of  holy  scripture,  as  seemed  adapted  to  our  case  in  particular, 
or  to  the  public  calamities  in  general.  By  this  method  we 
enjoyed  one  of  the  two  general  designs  of  public  religious 
meetings  —  I  mean  public  instruction ;  the  other,  to  wit.  public 
worship,  it  is  easy  to  believe  was  inadmissible  in  our  circum 
stances,  without  taking  such  liberties  with  the  service  as  I 
confess  I  should  blame  even  a  superior  in  the  church  for  as 
suming.  Resolved  to  adhere  to  those  principles  and  public 
professions  which,  upon  very  mature  deliberation  and  clear 
conviction,  I  had  adopted  and  made,  I  yielded  not  a  tittle  to 
those  who  opposed  them,  and  had  determined  to  remain  with 
my  people  to  see  the  end,  but  was  compelled  to  alter  this  reso 
lution  by  that  sudden  vicissitude  which  I  must  now,  with 
painful  reflection,  relate  to  the  Society.  fcOn  the  seventh  day  of 
July  last,  Major-General  Tryon  landed  at  Fairfield  with  a 
body  of  his  majesty's  troops,  and  took  possession  of  the  town 
and  its  environs,  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  having 
tackled  their  teams  and  removed  what  they  could  on  his 
approach.  This  cut  off  all  hope  from  the  few  loyalists  of 
saving  any  part  of  their  effects  if  the  town  should  be  burnt, 
every  carriage  being  taken  away.  The  General  was  so  kind, 
however,  as  to  order  me  a  guard  to  protect  my  house  and  some 
others  in  its  vicinity,  when  he  had  resolved  to  commit  the  rest 
of  the  town  to  the  flames ;  for,  as  I  have  already  hinted,  I  had 
determined  to  remain  at  home.  But  the  ungovernable  flames 
soon  extended  to  them  all,  and  in  a  few  minutes  left  me  with  a 
family,  consisting  of  my  wife,  and  eight  children,  destitute  of 
food,  house,  and  raiment.  Thus  reduced,  I  could  not  think  of 
remaining  in  a  place  where  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
have  clothed  and  re-furnished  my  family ;  therefore,  availing 
myself  of  the  protection  offered  by  the  present  opportunity,  I 
retired  with  them  within  the  king's  lines.  As  it  was  impossible 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  601 

(through  want  of  carriages)  to  save  anything  out  of  the  house, 
the  valuable  little  library  given  by  the  Society  was  burnt, 
together  with  my  own ;  and  the  plate  belonging  to  Trinity 
Church,  at  Fairfield,  was  lost,  as  well  as  that  of  my  family, 
and  the  handsome  church  itself  was  entirely  consumed.  The 
people  of  that  mission  have  met  with  a  heavy  stroke  in  the  loss 
of  their  church,  parsonage-house,  plate,  books,  &c.,  not  to 
mention  myself,  their  unworthy  minister.  My  loss  includes 
my  little  all ;  but  what  I  most  regret  is  my  absence  from  my 
flock,  to  which  my  heart  was,  and  still  is,  most  tenderly  at 
tached.  I  trust,  however,  that  the  Great  Shepherd  will  keep 
them  in  his  own  tuition  and  care.  I  bless  the  Lord  for  that, 
through  all  my  trials,  I  have  endeavored  to  keep  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  towards  God  and  towards  men ;  continually 
striving  to  discharge  my  duties  to  my  Master,  my  king,  and 
my  people ;  and  am  bound  to  thank  the  Lord  daily  for  that 
divine  protection,  that  tranquillity  of  mind,  and  that  peace  of 
conscience,  which,  through  his  grace,  I  have  all  along  enjoyed. 
Be  assured,  however,  that  I  am  nevertheless,  Reverend  Sir, 
your  affectionate  brother, 

"JOHN  SAYRE." 

SAYRE,  JOHN,  Junior.  Son  of  John  Sayre.  Went  to  St. 
John  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 
In  1801  he  was  a  merchant,  and  concerned  in  shipping. 

SCAMMEL,  THOMAS.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

SCHENCK,  JOHN,  MARTIN,  Junior,  MARTIN,  ABRAHAM,  and  PETER. 
Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance. 
October,  1776.  The  house  of  Martin  Schenck  was  twice 
robbed  during  the  war.  The  first  time  the  robbers  threatened 
to  strangle  him  unless  he  gave  up  his  money.  The  second 
time  he  received  a  blow  with  a  musket  which  disabled  one  of 
his  arms. 

SCHUREMAN,  JACOB.    Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.    A 
Protester  at  White  Plains,  April,   1775,  against  Whig  Con 
gresses  and  Committees. 
51 


602  BIOGRAPHICAL     SKETCHES 

SCHURMAN,  PHILIP.  Of  New  Rochelle,  New  York.  Son  of 
Frederick  Schurman  of  that  town.  Settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick  in  1783,  and  died  at  St.  John  in  1822,  aged  sixty-nine. 
He  has  descendants  in  that  city. 

SCHUYLER,  HON-YOST.  A  most  singular  being.  He  was 
coarse  and  ignorant,  and  was  regarded  as  half  an  idiot,  but 
yet  possessed  no  small  share  of  shrewdness.  He  partially 
attached  himself  to  the  royal  cause,  but  like  the  Cow-Boys, 
cared  but  little,  it  is  supposed,  which  party  he  served  or 
plundered.  He  was,  however,  captured  by  the  Whigs,  tried 
for  his  life,  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to  death.  His 
mother,  who  it  is  said,  was  a  sort  of  gypsy,  came  to  camp 
and  plead  with  great  eloquence  and  pathos  that  he  might  be 
spared.  Denied  at  first,  she  became  almost  frantic  with  grief 
and  passion.  But  it  was  at  length  agreed,  that  if  Hon-Yost 
would  proceed  to  Fort  Schuyler,  and  so  alarm  the  British  com 
mander  as  to  induce  him  to  raise  the  siege  of  that  post  and 
fly,  he  —  the  convict-traitor  —  should  not  die.  Before  Hon- 
Yost  departed,  several  shots  were  fired  though  his  clothes, 
that  it  might  appear  how  narrow  had  been  his  escape  from  the 
rebel  forces  approaching  to  relieve  their  friends.  Such  was 
his  address,  that  he  fairly  deceived  the  British  officer,  who 
fled  with  the  utmost  haste  —  the  retreat,  indeed,  was  disorder 
ly  to  the  last  degree.  Hon-Yost,  subsequently,  joined  Sir  John 
Johnson,  and  was  known  as  an  out-and-out  Tory.  After  the 
war  he  returned  to  his  old  home  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk, 
where  he  continued  to  live  for  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
died  about  the  year  1818.  It  is  said  that  General  Herkimer,  a 
distinguished  Whig,  was  his  uncle. 

SCOBY,  WILLIAM.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

SCOPHOL, .  Of  Georgia,  or  South  Carolina.  He  is  said 

to  have  been  an  "  illiterate,  stupid,  and  noisy  blockhead,"  but 
stupid  though  he  was,  he  gave  the  Whigs  no  inconsiderable 
trouble.  In  honor  of  him  a  band  of  Loyalists  took  the  name 
of  Scopholites.  Scophol  was  a  colonel  of  militia. 

SCOTT,  JAMES.     Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  603 

York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty.  James 
Scott,  a  Loyalist,  died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1804, 
aged  fifty-six. 

SCOTT,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Son  of  Jonathan  Scott. 
A  Congratulator  of  Cornwallis  on  his  success  at  Camden  in 
1780.  In  1782  his  estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  ban 
ished. 

SCOTT,  JOHN.  A  warrant  officer  in  the  King's  New  Bruns 
wick  Regiment.  Died  at  St.  John  previous  to  July,  1803. 

SCOTT,  JONATHAN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

SCOTT,  JOSEPH.  Of  Boston.  In  May,  1774,  he  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson,  and  having  in  September  of  that  year 
sold  some  warlike  stores  to  General  Gage,  he  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  people.  There  was  much  disturbance,  and  one  account 
states,  that  the  Selectmen  and  Committee  of  Correspondence 
of  Boston,  told  him,  that  for  the  act  "  he  deserved  immediate 
death,"  but  the  Committee  in  their  version  of  the  affair,  would 
not  appear  to  convey  this  impression.  They  however  aver, 
that  a  guard  was  offered  Mr.  Scott  by  General  Gage,  but  that 
"he  was  informed  no  military  guard  could  save  him,  and 
would  but  stimulate  the  people  to  greater  acts  of  violence." 
Mr.  Scott  was  fortunate  enough  to  escape  personal  harm, 
though  his  warehouse  was  injured.  He  seems  to  have  re 
mained  at  Boston,  as  in  October,  1775,  he  was  an  Addresser  of 
Gage.  But  at  the  evacuation  in  1776  he  accompanied  the 
royal  army  to  Halifax,  and  in  1778  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished. 

SCOVIL,  DANIEL.  Settled  in  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and 
became  a  merchant.  He  died  there  in  1822. 

SCOVIL,  EZRA.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  was  an 
Alderman  of  the  city  of  St.  John.  He  went  to  Nova  Scotia, 
and  died  at  Granville  in  1825,  aged  seventy-three. 

SCOVIL,  JAMES.  An  Episcopal  minister,  of  Connecticut. 
Like  Cooke,  Andrews,  Clarke,  and  Arnold,  who  were  all 
clergymen  of  his  communion  in  that  State,  he  settled  in  New 
Brunswick  after  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Scovil  resumed  his 


604  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

i 

clerical  duties  in  King's  County,  and  died  there.  His  widow 
died  in  the  same  County  in  1832,  aged  ninety.  His  son,  the 
Reverend  Elias  Scovil,  Rector  of  Kingston,  forty  years  in  the 
service  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,  and  one  of 
its  oldest  missionaries,  died  at  that  place  in  1841,  at  the 
age  of  seventy. 

SCRIBNER.  Of  Connecticut.  Five,  of  the  name  of  Norwalk,  set 
tled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  namely,  Hezekiah,  who,  with 
his  wife,  Elias,  who,  with  his  wife  and  five  children,  and  Thad- 
deus,  arrived  at  St.  John  in  the  ship  Union,  one  of  the  spring 
fleet ;  Joseph,  who  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  and  Thomas. 
The  first  died  in  that  city  in  1820,  aged  sixty-one ;  and  the 
last  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 

SEABROOKE,  JOSEPH.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent.  There  is  some  evidence  that  at 
the  outset  he  was  considered  a  Whig. 

SEABROOKE,  JOSEPH,  Junior.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was 
in  office  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston. 
His  property  was  confiscated. 

SEABURY,  DANIEL.  A  petitioner  for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia, 
July,  1783.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

SEABURY,  SAMUEL,  D.  D.  The  first  bishop  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Reverend 
Samuel  Seabury,  who  was  a  Congregational  minister  at 
Groton,  and  subsequently  the  first  Episcopal  minister  of  New 
London.  He  was  born  at  New  London  in  1728,  and  gradu 
ated  at  Yale  College  in  1751.  Soon  after  completing  his 
collegiate  education,  he  went  to  Scotland  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  medicine,  but  changed  his  purpose  and  devoted  his 
attention  to  theology.  In  1753  he  took  orders  in  London,  and 
returning  to  his  native  country,  was  settled  at  New  Brunswick, 
New  Jersey.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Colgan,  Sir  Charles 
Hardy,  Governor  of  New  York,  introduced  him  as  clergyman 
f  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  where  he 
remained  from  1756  to  1766.  Near  the  close  of  the  latter 
year  he  removed  to  Westchester,  and  continued  there  until  the 
commencement  of  hostilities.  In  April,  1775,  a  large  number 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  605 

of  Loyalists  assembled  at  White  Plains,  and  adopted  the  fol 
lowing  Protest.  Mr.  Seabury's  name  is  the  third  affixed  to  it; 
that  of  the  Reverend  Luke  Babcock,  another  Episcopalian 
minister,  is  the  fourth.  "  We,  the  subscribers,  freeholders, 
and  inhabitants  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  having  assem 
bled  at  the  White  Plains  in  consequence  of  certain  advertise 
ments,  do  now  declare,  that  we  met  here  to  declare  our  honest 
abhorrence  of  all  unlawful  Congresses  and  Committees,  and 
that  we  are  determined,  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives  and 
properties,  to  support  the  King  and  Constitution;  and  that 
we  acknowledge  no  Representatives  but  the  General  Assem 
bly,  to  whose  wisdom  and  integrity  we  submit  the  guar 
dianship  of  our  rights,  liberties,  and  privileges."  Mr.  Sea- 
bury  went  into  New  York  after  the  Revolution  opened,  and 
at  one  time  was  chaplain  of  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Fanning.  At  the  peace  he  set 
tled  at  New  London.  In  1784  he  went  to  England  to  obtain 
consecration  as  a  bishop,  but  objections  arising  there,  he  was 
consecrated  in  Scotland,  on  the  14th  of  November  of  that 
year,  by  three  non-juring  bishops.  For  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  he  presided  over  the  diocess  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island.  His  duties  were  discharged  in  an  exemplary  manner. 
He  died  February  25,  1796,  aged  sixty-eight  years.  Two 
volumes  of  his  sermons  were  published  before  his  decease,  and 
one  volume  in  1798.  A  sermon  founded  on  St.  Peter's  exhor 
tation,  to  fear  God  and  honor  the  King,  delivered  before  the 
Provincial  or  Loyalist  troops,  was  printed  during  the  war,  by 
direction  of  Governor  Try  on. 

SEAMAN,  BENJAMIN.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated.  In  1774,  this  gentleman  seems  to  have  been  mode 
rate  in  his  course,  and  perhaps  favored  the  popular  movements. 
Such  inference  I  draw  from  a  communication  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  Correspondence  of  Connecticut,  which  bears  his  sig 
nature,  and  in  which  it  is  said,  that  "  at  this  alarming  juncture, 
a  general  congress  of  deputies  from  the  several  Colonies,  would 
be  a  very  expedient  and  salutary  measure,"  &c.  In  July, 
1783,  he  announced  his  intention  to  remove  to  Nova  Scotia, 


606  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  was  one  of  the  fifty-five  petitioners  for  grants  of  lands  in 
that  Colony.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

SEAMAN,  RICHARD.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  after  the  war. 
He  was  an  alderman  of  St.  John,  and  treasurer  of  the  Colony. 

SEA.MAN.  Twelve,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowl 
edged  allegiance,  in  a  Representation  and  Petition  to  Lord 
Richard  and  General  William  Howe,  October,  1776.  To  wit: 
Israel,  Ambrose,  Abraham,  Samuel,  Isaac,  Thomas,  Jonathan, 
Thomas,  Obadiah,  Thomas  Cooper,  Solomon,  and  Jacob. 

SEAMAN,  URIAH.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Was  in 
arms  against  the  whigs  in  1780. 

SEAMAN,  WILLIAM  and  JOHN.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York. 
Were  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  And 
Hicks  Seaman  (residence  unknown,  but  probably  New  York), 
who  went  to  that  Colony  at  the  peace,  died  at  Sheffield,  in 
1841,  aged  eighty-four. 

SEARS,  THATCHER.  Of  Connecticut.  He  was  descended  from 
the  Reverend  Peter  Thatcher,  of  Boston,  and  was  the  second 
son  of  Nathaniel  Sears,  of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  The  noted 
Whig,  King  Sears,  as  he  was  called,  of  New  York,  was  his 
father's  brother.  In  early  life,  Mr.  Sears  was  much  employed 
in  the  Mohawk  country,  under  the  patronage  of  Sir  John 
Johnson,  in  the  purchase  of  furs.  His  pecuniary  affairs  were 
very  considerably  injured  by  the  burning  of  Norwalk,  and 
were  otherwise  deranged,  in  consequence  of  his  adherence  to 
the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  finally  forced  to  leave  home, 
when  he  sought  refuge  with  the  royal  army  at  New  York. 
He  had  become  poor,  and  was  compelled  to  live  in  retirement. 
In  1783,  he  removed  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  re 
ceived  the  grant  of  a  city  lot  in  King  Street,  which  is  now 
valuable,  and  owned  by  his  descendants.  Upon  this  lot  he 
erected  a  dwelling.  "  With  a  sorrowful  and  heavy  heart,"  he 
said,  "I  commenced  the  task  of  cutting  down  and  hewing  the 
timber  for  the  building,  which  was  to  shelter,  and  be  the  abode, 
of  myself  and  family,  in  our  exile  in  the  wilderness."  He  died 
at  St.  John  in  1819,  aged  sixty-seven.  He  was  twice  mar 
ried.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Henry  Smith,  Esquire, 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  607 

of  Huntingdon,  Long  Island,  New  York,  and  died  in  1803. 
His  second  child,  Ann,  who  was  born  shortly  after  his  arrival 
at  St.  John,  was  the  first  native  of  that  city.  He  reared  a 
large  family  of  children ;  but  Edward,  Robert,  John,  Elisa 
beth,  and  Sarah,  are  the  only  survivors.  Mr.  Sears  was  the 
only  Loyalist  of  his  family.  His  estate  at  Norwalk  is  now 
owned  by  gentlemen  of  the  name  of  Church. 

SEATON,  ROBERT  EGLINTON.  Ensign  of  infantry  in  the  Brit 
ish  Legion. 

SECORD,  ISRAEL  and  BENJAMIN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  Were  Protesters. 

SECORD,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  "  a  bold,  bad 
man,"  and  joined  the  enemy,  after  having  acted  as  a  spy  upon 
the  Whigs  in  the  vicinity  of  Wyoming. 

SEEKLES,  DANIEL.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
1783. 

SEEKLES,  DANIEL,  Junior.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St  John, 
New  Brunswick,  1783. 

SEELYE,  or  SEELY,  NEHEMIAH,  and  NEHEMIAH,  Junior.  Of  Con 
necticut.  Were  members  of  the  Reading  Association.  Seth, 
and  Seth  junior,  of  Stamford,  arrived  at  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783,  the  former  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  seven 
children  younger  than  Seth  junior.  Ebenezer  and  Stewart, 
others  of  the  name,  and  natives  of  Connecticut,  settled  in  New 
Brunswick ;  the  former  died  at  Carlton  in  1833,  aged  eighty- 
eight,  the  latter  at  St.  George,  in  1838,  at  an  old  age. 

SEGEE,  JOHN.  Died  at  New  Maryland,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1835. 

SELBY,  JOHN.  Clerk  of  the  Customs.  Embarked  at  Boston 
for  Halifax  with  the  British  army,  1776. 

SELICK,  NOAH.     An  ensign  in  De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion. 

SELKRIG,  JAMES.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Hali 
fax  in  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

SELKRIG,  THOMAS.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

SEMPLE,  JOHN.  Merchant;  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutch- 


608  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

inson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775 ;  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished  in  1778. 

SEMPLE,  ROBERT.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

SERGEANT,  JOHN.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British  army 
for  Halifax,  1776. 

SERVANIER,  JAMES.  In  1782  he  was  lieutenant  in  the  Third 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1803. 

SERVICE,  ROBERT.  Trader,  of  Boston.  He  went  to  Halifax 
in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

SERVICE,  • .  Of  New  York.  He  lived  in  the  vicinity  of 

Scoharie,  and  his  house  was  a  place  of  resort  for  Indians  and 
Tories,  and  a  depot  of  supplies.  His  attachment  to  the  king  and 
his  measures  was  well  known ;  and  in  1778,  a  party  of  Whigs 
determined  to  seize  him  and  carry  him  off.  They  took  him 
prisoner,  but  on  being  informed  that  he  must  accompany  them, 
he  seized  an  axe  and  attempted  to  cut  down  one  of  the  Whig 
officers ;  whereupon  another  officer  shot  him  dead.  This 
party,  while  on  their  way,  had  dispersed  a  company  of  Tories 
who  intended  to  reach  the  dwelling  of  Service,  and  pass  the 
night  there. 

SESSIONS,  DARIUS.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  was  Deputy  Gov 
ernor  of  the  Colony,  and  in  April,  1775,  in  a  written  paper 
dated  from  the  Upper  House,  entered  his  written  dissent  to  a  bill 
of  the  Assembly,  for  raising  an  army  of  fifteen  hundred  men. 
In  June  of  that  year,  his  official  functions  had  ceased,  and  the 
post  of  Deputy  Governor  was  filled  by  the  Honorable  Nicholas 
Cooke,  Esquire.  Probably  he  was  driven  into  retirement ;  for 
the  Protest  of  Wanton,  Sessions,  Potter,  and  Wickes,  as  ap 
pears  by  the  Recantation  of  Potter,  gave  much  uneasiness  to 
the  good  people  of  Rhode  Island. 

SETON,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  a  notary  public,  and  secre 
tary  to  the  superintendent  of  police  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

SETON,  WILLIAM.  An  officer  in  the  superintendent  depart 
ment  at  New  York. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  609 

SEWALL,  JONATHAN.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1748  ;  taught  school  in  Salem  till  1756  ; 
then  studied  law  with  Judge  Russell ;  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  in  Charlestown.  About  the  year  1767  he  was 
appointed  Attorney  General  of  Massachusetts.  In  1775  he 
left  the  country,  went  to  England,  and  resided  at  Bristol.  In 
1788  he  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick,  where  he  held  the  office 
of  Judge  of  Admiralty.  He  died  in  that  Colony  in  1796, 
aged  sixty-eight.  His  wife,  Esther,  who  was  a  Quincy,  and 
sister  of  Hancock's  wife,  died  at  Montreal,  January  21,  1810. 
His  son  Jonathan  resided  at  Quebec,  was  Chief  Justice  of 
Canada  thirty  years,  and  died  in  1839,  aged  seventy-four.  His 
son  Stephen  was  Solicitor  General,  and  died  at  Montreal  in 
1832.  Judge  Sewall  was  a  man  of  fine  talents  and  of  honora 
ble  character.  He  arid  John  Adams  were  bosom  friends.  He 
attempted  to  dissuade  Mr.  Adams  from  attending  the  first  Con 
tinental  Congress;  and  it  was  in  reply  to  his  arguments,  and 
as  they  walked  on  the  Great  Hill  at  Portland,  that  Adams 
used  the  memorable  words:  "  The  die  is  now  cast;  I  have 
now  passed  the  Rubicon ;  swim  or  sink,  live  or  die,  survive  or 
perish  with  my  country  is  my  unalterable  determination." 
They  parted,  and  met  no  more  until  Sewall  came  to  America 
in  1788.  The  one,  the  high-souled,  lion-hearted  Adams,  had  a 
country,  and  a  free  country ;  the  eloquent  and  gifted  Sewall 
lived  and  died  a  Colonist.  It  is  thought  that  Sewall  originally 
sympathized  with  the  Whigs,  and  that  he  was  won  over  to  the 
other  side  by  the  address  of  Hutchinson,  after  some  dissatis 
faction  with  the  Otises  relative  to  the  estate  of  his  uncle,  a 
deceased  Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts.  He  is  said  to  have 
adhered  to  the  crown  at  last,  —  as  did  thousands  of  others,— 
from  a  conviction  that  armed  opposition  would  end  in  certain 
defeat,  and  utter  ruin  to  the  Colonies. 

In  1774  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson,  and  in  Septem 
ber  of  that  year,  his  elegant  house  at  Cambridge  was  attacked 
by  a  mob,  and  much  injured.  He  fled  to  Boston  for  refuge. 
His  name  appears  among  the  proscribed  and  banished,  and 
among  those  whose  estates  were  confiscated.  While  in  Eng- 


610  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

land  he  wrote  to  his  fellow  exile  Curwen  :  "The  situation  of 
American  Loyalists,  I  confess,  is  enough  to  have  provoked 
Job's  wife,  if  not  Job  himself;  but  still  we  must  be  men,  phi 
losophers,  and  Christians ;  bearing  up  with  patience,  resigna 
tion,  and  fortitude,  against  unavoidable  suffering."  In  McFin- 
gal  it  is  asked, 

"  Who  made  that  wit  of  water-gruel 
A  judge  of  admiralty,  Sewall  ?  " 

SEWALL,  SAMUEL.  Great-grandson  of  Chief  Justice  Samuel 
Sewall,  and  son  of  Henry  Sewall,  Esquire,  of  Brookline, 
Massachusetts.  Was  born  December  31,  1745,  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1761,  and  died  at  Bristol,  England, 
May  6,  1811,  aged  sixty-six  years.  He  was  a  citizen  of  Bos 
ton,  where  he  practised  law.  His  name  occurs  among  the 
barristers  and  attornies  who  were  addressers  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  he  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  His 
estate  in  Brookline  was  confiscated.  The  Sewall  family  was 
long  one  of  the  most  eminent  in  New  England.  Of  the  Chief 
Justice  Samuel,  it  is  related,  that  he  received  by  his  wife  a 
fortune  of  £30,000.  which  was  paid  him  in  sixpences. 

SEYMOUR,  JOHN.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member 
of  the  Association. 

SHADIN,  DANIEL.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains. 

SHADWELL,  EDMUND.  An  ensign  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion. 

SHANKS,  DAVID.  An  officer  of  cavalry  in  the  Queen's  Ran 
gers. 

SHANKS,  JAMES.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Prince  of  Wales  Amer 
ican  Volunteers. 

SHANNON,  LEONARD.  An  ensign  in  the  Second  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

SHARP,  JOHN.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

SHAW,  J^NEAS.  An  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's  Ran 
gers. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  611 

SHAW,  COLIN.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated  in  1 779. 

SHAW,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  North  Carolina  Volun 
teers. 

SHAW,  JONATHAN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
ordered,  that,  failing  to  surrender  himself  and  be  tried  for 
treason,  he  should  stand  attainted. 

SHAW,  MOSES.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

SHEAFE,  GENERAL,  SIR .  Though  a  lad  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Revolution,  and  not,  therefore,  strictly  a  Loyalist, 
a  notice  of  him  may  not  be  without  interest.  He  was  engaged 
in  the  war  of  1812,  as  a  Major  General,  and  in  the  affair  of 
Q,ueenstown  Heights,  took  General  Scott  and  his  band  prison 
ers,  for  which  he  was  created  a  Baronet.  He  stated  to  Gen 
eral  (then  Colonel)  Scott  the  circumstances  of  his  youth,  and 
why  it  was  that  he  was  in  arms  against  his  native  land.  His 
account  was  (in  substance)  that  in  1775,  he  was  living  in 
Boston  with  his  widowed  mother,  with  whom  Earl  Percy 
had  his  quarters ;  that  his  Lordship  was  very  fond  of  him, 
and  took  him  away  with  a  view  of  providing  for  him,  which 
he  did,  by  giving  him  a  military  education,  and  by  purchasing 
commissions  and  promotion  to  as  high  rank  as  is  allowed  by 
the  rules  of  the  service ;  and  that  the  war  then  existing  found 
him  stationed  in  Canada.  He  stated,  moreover,  that  reluctant 
to  serve  against  his  own  countrymen,  he  had  solicited  to  be 
employed  elsewhere  ;  but  at  that  time  his  request  had  not  been 
granted. 

SHECK,  CHRISTOPHER.  Served  in  the  contest;  at  the  peace 
retired  to  New  Brunswick,  and  died  at  Sussex  Vale,  1841, 
aged  eighty-six. 

SHERBROOK,  MILES.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated.  Like  Low,  and  several  others  spoken  of  in  this 
work,  he  seems  to  have  been  at  first  inclined  to  the  popular 
side,  since  he  was  a  member  of  the  committee  of  fifty  raised  in 
that  city,  to  correspond  with  our  sister  Colonies.  Associated 
with  him  were  the  illustrious  Jay,  and  the  renowned  Isaac,  or 
King  Sears. 


612  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SHELTON,  JEREMIAH.  Served  during  the  contest  as  an  officer 
in  a  Loyalist  corps,  and  at  its  close  settled  in  New  Brunswick. 
He  died  at  Portland  in  that  Colony  in  1819,  aged  sixty-four. 
He  received  half-pay. 

SHERLOCK,  JOHN.  Of  Accomac  County,  Yirginia.  The 
Whig  Committee  denounced  him  in  1775,  for  his  defection  from 
the  popular  cause.  Several  witnesses  testified  in  substance, 
that  in  different  conversations  Sherlock  had  said,  all  who 
opposed  "  the  ministerial  measures  with  America  were  rebels  ; 
that  he  should  be  employed  hereafter  in  hanging  them,  and 
that,  if  no  hemp  could  be  got,  he  had  plenty  of  flax  growing." 
The  Whigs,  subsequently,  carried  him  to  the  Liberty-pole, 
where  he  made  a  written  recantation,  which  was  published 
with  the  proceedings  against  him. 

SHEPHERD,  JOSEPH.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

SHERIDAN,  HENRY  F.  Major  of  the  New  York  Volunteers, 
or  Third  American  Regiment. 

SHERMAN,  AMBROSE.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Fensible  Americans,  and  surgeon's  mate  of  that  corps. 
He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  His 
wife  was  a  Miss  McLane,  of  Boston.  He  was  drowned  at 
Burton. 

SHERWIN,  RICHARD.  Saddler,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

SHERWOOD,  JOHN.  Of  Connecticut.  Was  a  member  of  the 
Reading  Association. 

SHERWOOD,  ABIJAH,  JONATHAN,  and  JUSTUS.  Were  grantees  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  The  latter  died  in  King's 
County,  1836,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 

SHIELDS,  LUKE,  Junior.  Pilot,  of  Delaware.  By  law,  in 
1778,  his  property  was  to  be  confiscated,  unless  he  should 
surrender  himself  on  or  before  August  1,  of  that  year,  and 
abide  trial  for  treason. 

SHIEVE,  THOMAS.  An  ensign  in  De  Lancey's  Second  Bat 
talion. 

SHIPPEN,  EDWARD.     Of  Philadelphia.     Doctor  of  Laws,  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  613 

Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania.  His  elevation  to  the  bench 
occurred  in  1799,  and  he  held  the  appointment  until  1806,  in 
which  year  he  died,  aged  seventy-seven.  His  daughter  Mar 
garet  married  General  Benedict  Arnold.  The  family  of  the 
Chief  Justice,  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  was  of  the  high 
est  respectability,  as  the  descendants  still  are.  Mr.  Shippen  re 
mained  in  Philadelphia  after  its  evacuation  by  the  royal  army. 
While  it  was  held  by  the  British  troops,  he  maintained  close 
intimacy  with  the  officers,  and  his  daughter,  the  future  wife 
of  Arnold,  was  by  them  highly  admired  and  flattered.  There 
is  a  story,  that  the  Whig  General  Greene  was  Arnold's  rival. 

SHIPPY,  NATHAN.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York.  Went  to 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of 
1783. 

SHOALS,  JOHN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In  1776  he 
professed  himself  a  loyal  and  well  affected  subject  to  Lord 
Richard  and  General  William  Howe.  In  1779  his  name  ap 
pears  at  the  head  of  the  Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Sterling. 

SHOEMAKER,  SAMUEL.  Alderman,  of  Philadelphia.  His  estate 
was  conficated  in  1779. 

SHOMAKER,  RUDOLPH.  A  magistrate,  of  Tryon,  now  Mont 
gomery,  County,  New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration 
of  devotion  to  the  crown,  and  expressed  his  abhorrence  of 
Whig  measures.  It  was  at  his  house,  I  suppose,  that  Walter 
N.  Butler  and  his  party  were  captured  in  1777.  by  a  detach 
ment  of  Whigs  sent  out  by  Colonel  Weston. 

SHOTTOWE,  THOMAS.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  a  member 
of  the  Council,  and  Secretary  of  the  Colony. 

SHUTTS,  CHR.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SILKORD,  THOMAS.  Of  Pennsylvania.  In  1778  the  Council 
ordered,  that,  unless  he  appeared  and  took  his  trial  for  treason, 
he  should  stand  attainted. 

SILSBY,  DANIEL.     Of  Boston.     An  Addresser  of  Hutch inson 
in  1774.     In  1776  he  was  in  England.     In  1778  he  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished. 
52 


614  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SIMMONDS,  WILLIAM.  In  1776  he  embarked  at  Boston  with 
the  British  army  for  Halifax.  He  may  have  settled  in  New- 
Brunswick.  The  son  of  a  Loyalist  of  Massachusetts  remem 
bers  that  a  fellow  exile  of  his  father's  of  this  name  died  on 
the  river  St.  John  about  the  year  1790. 

SIMMONS,  CHARLES  H.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SIMMONS,  HEZEKIAH.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester. 

SIMMONS,  ISAAC.  Laborer,  of  Christiana,  Delaware.  In  1778 
he  was  required  to  surrender  himself  within  a  specified  time, 
or  surfer  the  loss  of  his  estate. 

SIMMONS,  SAMUEL.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  the 
Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs,  January, 
1775. 

SIMONS,  MAURICE.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

SIMONSON,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Was 
in  arms  against  the  Whigs. 

SIMPSON,  JAMES.  Attorney  General  of  South  Carolina.  Went 
to  England.  At  the  peace  he  was  appointed  by  the  Loyalists 
of  South  Carolina  who  had  suffered  losses,  agent  to  prosecute 
their  claims  to  compensation.  He  was  in  London  in  1788. 

SIMPSON,  JEREMIAH.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax. 

SIMPSON,  JOHN.  He  embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

SIMPSON,  JONATHAN.  Of  Boston.  Graduated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity  in  1772 ;  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  He 
was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  on  his 
departure  in  October,  1775.  He  was  commissary  of  provisions 
in  the  Britfsh  service,  but  returned,  and  died  at  Boston,  De 
cember,  1804,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

SIMPSON,  ROBERT.  An  ensign  in  the  North  Carolina  Volun 
teers. 

SIMPSON,  WILLIAM.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  615 

SIMSON,  WILLIAM  B.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Went  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  in  London. 

SINKER,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SKENE,  ANDREW  P.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Philip  Skene. 
His  property  was  confiscated  by  an  act  of  that  State.  Early 
in  the  contest  he  was  taken  prisoner  on  Lake  Champlain,  and 
sent  to  Connecticut,  where  he  was  confined. 

SKENE,  PHILIP.  Of  New  York.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  struggle  he  held  the  posts  of  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Crown 
Point  and  Ticonderoga,  and  of  surveyor  of  his  Majesty's  woods 
bordering  on  Lake  Champlain ;  and  had  command  of  a  corps 
of  militia.  Previously,  he  had  seen  much  military  service, 
having  been  at  Carthagena,  Porto  Bello,  and  Flanders,  and 
with  Amherst  in  Canada,  and  at  the  conquest  of  Martinique 
and  Havana.  He  had  been  often  wounded.  His  residence 
was  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Champlain,  where  he 
owned  lands.  In  1775  he  was  empowered  to  raise  a  regiment. 
In  June  of  that  year,  while  at  Philadelphia,  he  was  arrested, 
and  his  papers  were  examined  by  order  of  Congress.  Mr. 
James  Lovell,  a  distinguished  Whig  of  Massachusetts,  having 
fallen  into  the  enemy's  hands  at  Boston,  an  exchange  was 
proposed  early  in  1776.  Some  delay  occurred  in  completing 
the  arrangement,  but  in  October  Colonel  Skene,  who  was 
then  a  prisoner  at  Hartford,  was  conveyed  to  a  British  ship  of 
war  in  the  Hudson,  though  it  was  not  known  that  Mr.  Lovell 
had  arrived  from  Halifax,  or  was  at  liberty.  Colonel  Skene 
was  attainted,  and  his  estate  was  confiscated.  He  died  in 
England  in  1810. 

SKIDMORE.  Nathan,  John,  Whithead,  Joseph  senior,  Walter, 
Samuel  junior,  Samuel,  and  Joseph,  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

SKINNER,  CORTLANDT.  Of  New  Jersey.  He  was  Attorney 
General  of  that  Colony  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  arid  in  the  performance  of  his  official  duties  evinced  both 
ability  and  integrity.  He  accepted  service  under  the  crown, 
and  was  authorized  to  raise  a  corps  of  Loyalists,  to  consist 


616 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


of  t\vo  thousand  five  hundred  men.  He  was  allowed  to 
nominate  his  own  officers.  Three  battalions  were  organized 
and  officered,  and  called  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  But  the 
enlistments  of  common  soldiers  were  slow.  After  several 
months  of  active  exertions,  the  whole  number  of  men  who  had 
rallied  under  his  standard  was  but  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  one.  Skinner  continued  in  command  of  the  corps,  with 
the  rank  of  brigadier  general.  His  daughter  Catharine  mar 
ried  William  Henry,  afterwards  Sir  William  Henry  Robinson 
of  the  British  army,  and  son  of  the  senior  Colonel  Beverley 
Robinson.  His  daughter  Gertrude  was  married  to  Captain 
Meredith,  of  the  seventieth  regiment,  royal  army,  at  Jamaica, 
New  York,  in  July,  1780.  He  went  to  England  at  the  peace. 
His  claim  to  compensation  for  his  losses  as  a  Loyalist  was 
difficult  to  adjust,  and  caused  the  commissioners  much  labor. 

SKINNER,  CORTLANDT,  Junior.  Of  New  Jersey.  Son  of  Cort- 
landt  Skinner.  In  1782  he  held  a  commission  in  the  British 
army,  as  distinguished  from  the  Provincial  or  Loyalist  corps. 

SKINNER,  JOHN.  Of  New  Jersey.  Brother  of  Cortlandt 
Skinner,  Junior.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  a  midship 
man  in  the  British  navy,  and  in  an  affair  with  some  Whig 
batteries  on  the  Hudson  river  lost  an  arm.  In  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  he  was  a  retired  lieutenant  in  the  royal  navy,  and 
commanded  a  steam-packet  between  Holyhead  and  Dublin. 
Consenting,  while  engaged  in  this  service,  to  put  to  sea  in  a 
violent  gale,  to  gratify  others,  and  much  against  his  own  judg 
ment,  he  perished. 

SKINNER,  FRANCIS.  Clerk  of  the  Council,  of  Massachusetts. 
He  was  at  Halifax  in  July,  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed 
and  banished. 

SKINNER,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  deputy  muster-master-gen 
eral  of  the  Loyalist  forces. 

SKINNER,  PHILIP.  An  ensign  in  the  First  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

SKINNER,  STEPHEN.  A  member  of  the  Council,  of  New 
Jersey.  In  1775,  (February  8,)  he  sent  the  following  letter  to 
the  House  of  Assembly,  from  which  it  appears,  that  he  was 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  617 

in  some  pecuniary  difficulty  on  account  of  his   former  office 
of  treasurer. 

"  Mr.  Speaker  : — The  message  of  the  House,  ordering  the  late 
Treasurer  to  attend  this  day  at  ten  o'clock,  to  inquire  of  him 
the  deficiency  of  the  Treasury,  I  have  received ;  but  as  I  have 
the  Honor  to  be  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council,  I  can't  possibly 
attend  till  such  time  as  I  have  laid  the  order  before  the  Coun 
cil,  which  I  shall  immediately  do  upon  their  meeting.  As  the 
order  is  to  inquire  concerning  the  deficiency  of  the  Treasury, 
I  can  assure  the  House,  had  I  been  apprized  of  their  wanting 
the  public*  money,  I  should  have  taken  care  that  the  whole 
should  have  been  in  the  Treasury  for  their  inspection ;  but  as 
I  have  amply  secured  the  Treasurer,  I  shall  take  care  that  he 
shall  have  the  whole  amount  of  the  bond  I  have  given  him 
within  the  time  appointed  for  cancelling  the  public  money. 
"I  am  with  great  respect,  &c. 

"STEPHEN  SKINNER." 

He  was  at  New  York  in  July,  1783,  and  a  petitioner  for 
lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

SKYLER,  HENRY.  Of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  His 
estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

SLAYTER,  JOHN.  He  settled  in  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
was  an  officer  of  the  Customs  there  quite  fifty  years.  He  died 
at  Halifax  in  1824,  aged  seventy-seven. 

SLIP,  JOHN.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died 
on  Long  Island,  Queen's  County,  in  that  Colony,  in  1836,  leav 
ing  numerous  descendants. 

SLOCUM,  EBENEZER.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  two  children,  in  1783,  in 
the  ship  Union. 

SLOCUM,  ELEAZER.  Of  Massachusetts.  Arrived  at  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  one  child,  in  the  ship 
Union. 

SMILER,  SAMUEL.    A  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery.    Died  at 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1820. 
52* 


618  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SMITH,  CHARLES.  Of  New  York.  In  1778,  his  messenger 
was  detected  with  a  letter  for  Brant,  when  Smith  himself 
was  pursued  by  a  party  of  Whigs,  and  slain.  His  scalp  was 
taken  and  sent  to  General  Stark. 

SMITH,  CLAUDIUS.  Of  New  York.  In  1779  he  was  seized 
and  put  to  death,  in  the  County  of  Orange,  by  a  party  of 
Whigs.  A  man,  says  a  writer  of  the  time,  "infamous,  and  a 
villain." 

SMITH,  FREDERICK.  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey.  In  1773, 
he  was  appointed,  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  one  of  the 
Commissioners  to  examine  into  the  affair  of  the  burning  of 
the  king's  ship,  Gaspee,  by  a  party  of  Rhode  Island  Whigs, 
the  previous  year.  In  1774,  in  delivering  a  charge  to  the 
Grand  Jury  of  Essex  County,  he  spoke  of  the  troubles  of  the 
time,  and  said  that  the  "  imaginary  tyranny,  three  thousand 
miles  distant,"  was  less  to  be  guarded  against,  than  the  "real 
tyranny  at  our  own  doors."  The  Jury  excepted  to  this  course 
of  remark,  and  made  a  spirited  and  a  Whig  reply. 

SMITH,  GEORGE.  A  physician,  of  Albany,  New  York.  In 
1781,  he  was  actively  engaged  in  fomenting  disaffection  among 
the  people  of  Vermont,  and  was  believed  to  have  had  a  special 
commission  for  the  purpose.  I  suppose  that  Chief  Justice 
Smith  was  a  brother.  There  is  much  mystery  hanging  over 
the  conduct  of  Ethan  and  Ira  Allen,  and  some  other  Whigs,  at 
this  period ;  but  sufficient  appears  to  have  become  known  to 
warrant  the  impression,  that  their  intentions  were  hardly  to  be 
excused. 

SMITH,  ICHABOD.  Was  captain  lieutenant  of  De  Lancey's  Sec 
ond  Battalion.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783, 
and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city;  subsequently  he  was  a  captain  in 
the  militia,  and  a  magistrate.  He  died  in  Maugerville,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1823,  aged  sixty-seven.  He  received  half-pay. 

SMITH,  ISAAC.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1767, 
and  was  subsequently  connected  with  that  institution  as  a 
tutor.  He  went  to  England,  and  was  ordained  as  a  clergyman 
in  1778,  but  returned  after  the  Revolution,  and  resumed  his 
connexion  with  the  University  as  librarian.  He  was  after- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  619 

wards  preceptor  of  Dummer  Academy,  at  Byfield,  Massachu 
setts. 

SMITH,  JACOB.  Of  New  York.  A  captain  in  De  Lancey's 
First  Battalion.  In  1783,  when  the  corps  was  disbanded,  he 
settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  He  died 
on  the  river  St.  John,  in  1837,  aged  eighty-eight. 

SMITH,  JAMES.  A  captain.  After  the  Revolution,  he  settled 
on  the  Island  of  Grand  Men  an,  Province  of  New  Brunswick, 
where  he  died,  July,  1836,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 

SMITH,  JOSHUA  H.  Of  New  York.  In  Arnold's  treason,  in 
1780,  he  figured  prominently,  either  as  a  tool  or  an  accomplice ; 
and  the  truth  perhaps  is,  that  he  was  at  first  the  traitor's  dupe, 
and,  before  the  affair  was  at  an  end,  his  willing  associate. 
Smith  brought  Andre  on  shore,  and  he  and  Arnold  had  their 
first  interview  at  his  house,  —  the  White  House  —  near  Stony 
Point.  When  the  plot  was  complete,  and  Andre  was  ready  to 
return,  Smith,  for  some  reason  never  explained,  refused  to 
carry  him  on  board  of  the  Vulture,  but  agreed  to  accompany 
him  on  the  way  to  New  York  by  land,  and  he  did  so,  to  a 
point  of  supposed  safety.  Before  they  started,  Andre  divested 
himself  of  his  military  coat,  and  leaving  it  behind,  received 
one  of  Smith's  in  exchange.  Smith  was  tried  by  a  military 
court  for  his  connexion  with  this  affair,  but  acquitted.  He  was 
however  taken  into  custody  by  the  civil  authority  of  the  State, 
and  committed  to  jail.  After  some  months'  imprisonment,  he 
made  his  escape,  and,  sometimes  disguised  in  a  woman's  dress, 
made  his  way  through  the  country  to  New  York,  where  he 
was  among  friends.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  Eng 
land.  In  1808,  he  published  in  London,  An  Authentic  Nar 
rative  of  the  Causes  which  led  to  the  death  of  Major  Andre. 
The  book  is  regarded  with  no  favor  by  historians.  It  is  be 
lieved  that  he  was  a  brother  of  Chief  Justice  William  Smith. 

SMITH,  NATHAN.  A  physician,  of  Rhode  Island.  He  en 
tered  the  king's  service,  and  was  surgeon  of  one  of  the  Loyalist 
regiments.  In  1783  he  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
received  half-pay,  and  continued  in  that  city  until  his  decease. 
He  died  in  1818,  aged  eighty-one.  His  son,  William  Howe 


620  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Smith,  who  was  bom  in  Rhode  Island  in  1777,  died  at  St.  John 
in  1822,  leaving  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  one 
son  (1846)  survives. 

SMITH,  RICHARD.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Claudius  Smith. 
After  the  execution  of  his  father,  and  the  death  of  his  brother, 
who  was  shot  in  an  affray,  he  led  a  band,  who,  it  is  averred, 
committed  every  possible  enormity.  On  one  occasion,  having 
killed  John  Clark,  the  following  Warning  to  the  Rebels, 
was  pinned  to  Clark's  coat :  —  "  You  are  hereby  warned,  at 
your  peril,  to  desist  from  hanging  any  more  friends  to  govern 
ment,  as  you  did  Claudius  Smith.  You  are  warned,  likewise, 
to  use  James  Smith,  James  Fluelling,  and  William  Cole,  well, 
and  ease  them  of  their  irons,  for  we  are  determined  to  hang 
six  for  one,  for  the  blood  of  the  innocent  cries  aloud  for  ven 
geance.  Your  noted  friend,  Captain  Williams,  and  his  crew 
of  robbers  and  murderers,  we  have  got  in  our  power,  and  the 
blood  of  Claudius  Smith  shall  be  repaid.  There  are  particu 
lar  companies  of  us  that  belong  to  Colonel  Butler's  army, 
Indians  as  well  as  white  men,  and  particularly  numbers  from 
New  York,  that  are  resolved  to  be  avenged  on  you  for  your 
cruelty  and  murder.  We  are  to  remind  you,  that  you  are  the 
beginners  and  aggressors,  for  by  your  cruel  oppressions  and 
bloody  actions,  you  drive  us  to  it.  This  is  the  first,  and  we 
are  determined  to  pursue  it  on  your  heads  and  leaders  to  the 
last  —  till  the  whole  of  you  are  murdered"  Such  are  the  hor 
rors  of  civil  war ! 

SMITH,  RUFUS.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  New  Brunswick 
a  year  after  the  first  emigration,  in  1784.  He  studied  med 
icine,  established  himself  as  a  physician  in  the  County  of 
Westmoreland,  and  was  several  times  elected  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly.  He  died  in  Westmoreland  in  1844.  He 
was  in  the  practice  of  physic  upwards  of  fifty  years. 

SMITH,  THOMAS.  An  officer  of  the  privateer  Adventure.  He 
was  captured,  and  sent  to  Simsbury  Mines,  Connecticut,  whence 
he  made  his  escape,  and  published  an  account  of  the  treat 
ment  which  he  received  from  the  Whigs  while  in  their  power. 
Ebenezer  Hathaway,  of  whom  there  is  a  notice  in  these  pages, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  621 

was  his  companion  in  prison,  and  joined  in  his  statement. 
Smith,  in  an  affray  with  the  Rebels,  lost  a  part  of  his  nose. 
He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  survived  Hathaway,  and  was 
an  attendant  in  his  last  moments,  and  evinced  much  feeling  in 
parting  with  his  old  associate. 

SMITH,  TITUS.  A  native  of  Hadley,  Massachusetts.  He 
embraced  the  views  of  Robert  Sandeman,  and  became  an 
Elder  in  the  Sandemanian  Church.  He  went  to  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  died  there  in  1807. 

SMITH,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  York.  He  was  Chief  Justice, 
and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Colony,  and  considered  to 
be  in  office  in  1782.  His  father,  the  Honorable  William  Smith, 
an  eminent  lawyer,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  died  in 
1769.  William  Smith,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1745.  It  appears,  that  he  was  at  a  loss  as  to 
the  side  which  he  should  espouse  in  the  controversy  which  pre 
ceded  the  Revolution,  and  that  he  made  no  choice  until  late  in 
the  war.  It  seems,  also,  that  a  number  of  other  gentlemen  of 
wealth  and  influence,  who  had  wavered  like  himself,  joined 
the  royal  cause  about  the  same  time,  in  1778.  It  is  be 
lieved  that,  at  first,  he  opposed  the  claims  of  the  ministry. 
However  this  may  be,  his  final  decision  excited  the  remark  of 
both  the  Whigs  and  the  Loyalists  ;  the  former  indulging  their 
wit  in  verse,  and  calling  him  the  "weathercock,"  that  "could 
hardly  tell  which  way  to  turn  ; "  and  the  latter  noticing  his  ad 
hesion  in  their  correspondence.  He  settled  in  Canada,  after 
the  war,  and  was  Chief  Justice  of  that  Colony.  He  published 
a  history  of  New  York,  which  was  continued  by  his  son 
William.  The  celebrated  Dr.  Mitchell,  of  New  York,  is  said 
to  have  related  the  following  anecdote. 

"  This  eloquent  man,"  alluding  to  Judge  Smith,  "  having 
been  an  adherent  to  the  royal  cause  during  the  Revolution,  left 
the  city  of  New  York  in  1783,  with  the  British  troops,  and 
was  afterwards  rewarded  by  his  sovereign  with  a  high  ju 
diciary  office  at  Quebec.  Judge  Smith,  although  thus  removed 
from  the  place  of  his  origin,  always  contemplated  the  politics 
of  his  native  country  with  peculiar  solicitude.  One  evening, 


622  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

in  the  year  1789,  when  Dr.  Mitchell  was  in  Quebec,  and  pass 
ing  the  evening  at  the  Chief  Justice's  house,  the  leading  sub 
ject  of  conversation  was  the  new  Federal  Constitution,  then 
under  the  consideration  of  the  States,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Convention  which  sat  at  Philadelphia,  in  1787.  Mr. 
Smith,  who  had  been  somewhat  indisposed  for  several  days, 
retired  to  his  chamber  with  Mr.  Grant,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  Legislative  Council,  at  an  early  hour.  In  a  short  time, 
Mr.  Grant  came  forth,  and  invited  Dr.  Mitchell,  in  Mr.  Smith's 
name,  to  walk  from  the  parlor  into  Mr.  Smith's  study,  and  sit 
with  them.  Mr.  Mitchell  was  conducted  to  a  sofa,  and  seated 
beside  the  Chief  Justice,  before  whom  stood  a  table,  support 
ing  a  large  bundle  of  papers.  Mr.  Smith  resumed  the  subject 
of  American  politics,  and  untied  his  papers.  After  searching 
among  them  a  while,  he  unfolded  a  certain  one,  which  he  said 
was  written  about  the  time  the  colonial  commotions  grew  vio 
lent,  in  1775,  and  contained  a  plan,  or  system  of  government, 
sketched  out  by  himself  then,  and  which  nearly  resembled  the 
Constitution  afterwards  proposed  by  the  Federal  Convention 
of  the  United  States.  He  then  read  the  contents.  The  piece 
was  long  and  elaborate,  and  written  with  much  beauty  and 
spirit.  '  This,  sir,'  added  he,  after  finishing  it,  '  is  a  copy  of  a 
letter,  which  I  sent  to  a  member  of  Congress  in  1775,  who  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  General  Washington.  You  may  trace  to 
this  source  the  sentiments  in  favor  of  a  more  energetic  govern 
ment  for  your  country,  contained  in  the  Commander-in-chief  s 
circular  letters,  and  from  this,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the 
citizens  of  all  the  States  derived  their  leading  hints  for  your 
new  form  of  government.'  " 

SMITH, .     The  captain  of  a  Tory  band.     In  1778  he 

enlisted  a  company  of  Tories  in  the  neighborhood  of  Catskill, 
New  York,  and  while  on  his  way  to  join  Sir  John  Johnson  at 
Niagara,  was  assailed  by  a  Whig  force,  who  shot  him  dead, 
and  put  his  men  to  flight. 

SMITH.  Fifty-four,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowl 
edged  allegiance  in  a  Representation  and  Petition  to  Lord 
Richard  and  General  William  Howe,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  623 

John,  Samuel,  Thomas  junior,  George,  Cornel,  Amos,  Peter 
junior,  Plat,  Nathaniel,  Peter  senior,  Samuel  junior,  Jacob, 
Benjamin  R.;  Joseph,  Silas,  James,  Samuel,  Walter,  Nathaniel, 
Charles,  Thomas,  W.  of  Cow  Neck,  Benjamin,  Noah,  Nicholas, 
Isaac,  James,  Daniel  junior,  John,  Benjamin  junior,  Israel, 
John,  Samuel,  John,  Richard,  John,  Daniel,  Richard,  Isaac, 
Zebulon,  W.  junior,  Daniel,  Richard,  Gershom,  W.  junior, 
Jonathan,  William,  Timothy,  Thomas,  Richard,  Thomas 
Howell,  William,  John,  and  Stephen.  The  Whigs  often  accused 
the  Loyalists  of  placing  the  names  of  men  of  straw  on  their 
addresses  to  the  royal  functionaries,  and  there  seems  some  rea 
son  to  suppose  that  the  same  person  signed  the  document  repeat 
edly  ;  and  the  same  remark  will  apply,  perhaps,  to  the  Jack- 
sons,  the  Remsens,  the  Townsends,  and  others  who  signed  the 
Representation  and  Petition  of  the  Loyalists  of  Queen's 
County.  Several  persons  of  the  name  of  Smith,  of  Jamaica, 
affixed  their  signatures  to  a  Declaration  of  Loyalty  in  1775, 
namely,  Ludlam,  John,  Charles,  and  William.  In  1780, 
Joseph,  Israel,  William  R.,  and  Barnabas  Smith,  of  Queen's 
County,  were  in  arms,  and  assisted  in  the  capture  of  the  Whig 
privateer  Revenue. 

SMITH.  The  Loyalists  of  this  name  were  very  numerous. 
In  addition  to  the  preceding  seventy,  there  were  thirty-eight 
others  who  remain  to  be  noticed.  These  are  Alexander  Smith, 
a  blacksmith,  of  Philadelphia,  who,  in  1778,  was  ordered  to 
surrender  himself  or  stand  attainted ;  Alexander,  of  the  same 
city,  and  keeper  of  the  New  Jersey  Ferry,  whose  estate  was 
confiscated  in  1779 ;  and  Alexander,  of  Charleston,  South  Car 
olina,  who  was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 
Of  the  name  of  William  there  seems  to  have  been  five ;  Wil 
liam,  of  Philadelphia,  who  in  1777  was  sent  prisoner  to  Vir 
ginia  ;  William  Drewit,  a  druggist  of  that  city,  who  was  pro 
scribed  in  1778;  William,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  an 
Addresser  of  Clinton ;  William,  of  Maryland,  who  went  to 
England  previous  to  July,  1779 ;  and  William,  of  New  York, 
who  settled  in  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and  died  at  Frederic- 
ton  in  1834,  aged  eighty-three.  In  Queen's  County,  New 


624  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

York,  there  was  Thomas,  a  magistrate,  who  was  an  Addresser 
of  Governor  Robertson  in  1780;  and  in  New  Hampshire, 
Thomas,  who  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  Of  the 
name  of  James,  one  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Rangers; 
and  another  James,  who  belonged  to  South  Carolina,  was  in 
England  in  1779.  Of  the  name  of  John,  four  of  the  five  fol 
lowing,  and  perhaps  all,  were  different  persons.  Thus,  John 
was  paymaster-general  of  the  Loyalist  forces,  and  in  1783  was 
at  New  York,  a  petitioner  for  a  grant  of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia  ; 
John,  of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery.  County,  New  York,  was  a 
loyal  Declarator ;  John,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  proscribed 
and  banished ;  John,  who  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the 
peace,  died  in  Belville,  Upper  Canada ;  and  John,  a  grantee 
of  St.  John,  died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1843, 
aged  eighty-four.  Besides  those  mentioned  who  were  in  ser 
vice,  there  were  Joseph,  who  was  a  captain  in  the  King's 
Rangers,  Carolina;  Peter  J.,  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Ameri 
can  Regiment;  Samuel,  an  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers ;  Abraham,  a  cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  American 
Legion  under  Arnold ;  Nathaniel,  surgeon  of  De  Lancey's 
First  Battalion  ;  and  Stephen,  a  sergeant  in  the  King's  Amer- 
can  Regiment,  who,  while  stationed  on  Long  Island,  New 
York,  warned  all  persons  not  to  trust  his  wife  Mary.  In 
Massachusetts,  were  Richard,  a  merchant,  of  Boston,  who  was 
an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson;  and  Henry,  a  merchant  of  the 
same  town,  who  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax  ; 
Joshua,  a  trader,  of  Townsend,  and  Solomon,  a  boatman,  of 
Taunton,  were  severally  proscribed  and  banished ;  and  Bowen, 
son  of  Honorable  Josiah  Smith,  of  Pembroke,  who  died  at 
Shediac,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1836.  In  Pennsylvania,  was  Andrew, 
against  whom  there  was  a  proclamation  of  proscription.  In 
Delaware,  was  Christian,  of  Newcastle,  who  was  ordered  to 
surrender  himself,  or  be  attainted.  In  South  Carolina,  Nicho 
las,  of  Charleston,  an  Addresser  of  Clinton.  In  Connecticut, 
was  Daniel,  of  New  Milford,  who  arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783,  in  the  ship  Union,  received  a  grant  of  a  city 
lot,  and  died  in  the  County  of  Sunbury  in  1834,  aged  seventy. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  625 

Among  those  whose  residence  is  unknown,  were  Edward, 
who  accompanied  the  royal  army  from  Boston  to  Halifax  in 
1776 ;  Shubal,  who  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee ;  Robert,  a  magistrate,  who  died  in 
Fredericton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1820,  aged  sixty-nine ;  Rob 
ert,  a  magistrate,  who  died  in  Queen's  County,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1829,  aged  seventy-seven;  Elijah,  a  magistrate,  who 
deceased  in  Queen's  County  in  1833,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three  ;  and  Michael,  a  staunch  Loyalist,  who  died  at  Wood 
stock,  New  Brunswick,  in  1842,  aged  eighty-five. 

SMYTH,  ALEXANDER.  Adjutant  of  the  King's  Rangers.  He 
was  at  the  Island  of  St.  John,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  before 
the  close  of  1782,  where  he  had  settled,  or  thought  of  settling, 
and  where  he  invited  his  countrymen  and  fellow  sufferers  to 
follow  him. 

SMYTH,  JAMES.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission  of 
the  crown  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston  in  1780.  Estate 
confiscated. 

SMYTH,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in  1782, 
and  his  property  confiscated.  Early  in  the  controversy  he  may 
have  been  a  Whig,  as  in  1774  he  was  a  member  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Correspondence. 

SNEAD,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SNEDEKER.  Abraham,  Barnt,  Christian,  W.,  Gorce,  John, 
Albert,  and  Johannes,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknow 
ledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  Abraham,  Johannes,  and 
John,  had  signed  a  Declaration  of  Loyalty  the  year  before. 
Rem  Snedeker,  of  that  County,  had  signed  the  same. 

SNEDEN,  ROBERT.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

SNELLING,  JONATHAN.     Of  Boston.     An  Addresser  of  Hutch- 
inson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.     In  1776  he  went  to  Hali 
fax.     In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.     A  person  of 
this  name  died  at  Halifax  in  1809,  aged  fifty-one. 
53 


626  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SNODGRASS,  NEAL.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

SNODGRASS,  NIEL.  Of  North  Carolina.  Went  to  England. 
He  was  an  Addresser  of  the  king,  July,  1779. 

SNOW,  ELISHA.  A  minister,  of  Thomaston,  Maine.  He 
was  professedly  a  friend,  but  really  a  traitor  to  General  Peleg 
Wadsworth,  (the  father  of  Captain  Alexander  S.  Wadsworth, 
of  the  United  States  Navy),  who  commanded  the  eastern  dis 
trict  in  1780.  When,  in  that  year,  another  adherent  of  the 
crown  betrayed  the  condition  of  the  General  to  the  British 
commander  at  Castine,  the  party  dispatched  from  that  place  to 
make  him  prisoner  were  concealed  at  Snow's  house  until  a 
late  hour  of  the  night,  and  departed  thence  to  complete  their 
enterprise,  in  which  they  were  successful. 

SNOWDEN,  RANDOLPH.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

SNYDER,  WILLIAM.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

SORRELL,  WILLIAM.  An  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Yolunteers,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 

SOUTHARD,  JAMES,  and  ABEL.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Assisted  in  the  capture  of  the  Whig  privateer  Revenue 
in  1780.  Abel  was  wounded. 

SOWER,  CHRISTOPHER,  Senior.  Of  Germantown,  Pennsyl 
vania.  His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

SOWER,  CHRISTOPHER,  Junior.  Received  a  good  education, 
and  was  ordained  minister  over  a  society  of  German  Bap 
tists  ;  but  having  also  been  taught  the  art  of  printing,  suc 
ceeded  to  his  father's  business  as  a  printer  and  bookseller,  at 
Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  about  the  year  1744.  For  a  con 
siderable  period  his  was  the  most  extensive  concern  for  print 
ing  and  binding  books  in  America.  The  Revolution  broke  up 
his  establishment ;  arid  the  part  he  took  in  it,  caused  the  con 
fiscation  of  his  estate.  When  the  British  entered  Philadel 
phia,  he  joined  them,  and  remained  in  the  city  while  they  pos 
sessed  it.  Among  his  property  which  was  forfeited,  was  a 
part  of  an  edition  of  the  Bible  unbound  and  in  sheets,  of  which 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  627 

some  copies  were  made  into  cartridges,  and  thus  used  for  the 
destruction  of  men's  bodies,  rather  than  for  the  salvation  of 
their  souls.  Sower  was  esteemed  a  man  of  integrity  and 
merit.  His  losses  by  the  battle  of  Germantown,  and  other 
wise,  were  estimated  at  thirty  thousand  dollars.  He  died  near 
Philadelphia,  quite  aged,  in  August,  1784. 

SOWER,  CHRISTOPHER,  the  3d.  Was  a  printer,  of  German- 
town,  Pennsylvania,  and  for  a  short  time  was  connected  with 
his  father.  He  sought  royal  protection,  and  retired  from  the 
United  States  with  the  British  troops.  After  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  published  the 
Royal  Gazette,  at  the  city  of  St.  John.  In  1792  he  was  deputy 
postmaster-general  of  the  Colony.  His  health  becoming  im 
paired,  he  left  New  Brunswick  in  1799  ;  and  died  at  Baltimore 
in  July  of  that  year. 

SPARHAWK,  ANDREW.  Of  Kittery,  Maine.  Brother  of  Sam 
uel  Hirst  Sparhawk.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  there 
in  1783.  His  wife,  who  accompanied  him,  died  previ 
ously. 

SPARHAWK,  SAMUEL  HIRST.  Of  Kittery,  Maine.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1771.  He  was  in  Boston  in 
1774  and  1775,  and  was  an  Addresser  of  both  Hutchinson  and 
Gage.  Subsequently  he  went  to  England.  The  second  Sir 
William  Pepperell  was  his  brother. 

SPEARS,  ROBERT.  Quartermaster  of  the  Royal  Fensible  Amer 
icans. 

SPENCE,  JAMES.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783. 

SPENCE,  PETER.  A  physician,  of  South  Carolina.  Estate  con 
fiscated. 

SPENCE,  WILLIAM.  Went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  in  cir 
cumstances  of  great  poverty  and  destitution ;  but  accumulated 
a  large  estate.  He  died  at  Hampton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1821, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 

SPENCER,  BENJAMIN.  A  magistrate.  In  1775  he  was  mobbed, 
and  his  person  injured.  His  residence  was  in  the  New  Hamp 
shire  Grants,  now  the  State  of  Vermont. 


628  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

SPENCER,  GEORGE.  An  officer  of  cavalry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

SPERGEN,  WILLIAM.  Of  North  Carolina.  His  property  was 
confiscated  in  1779. 

SPIERS,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died  there  in  1820, 
aged  seventy-three. 

SPINK,  N.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  left  the  State  during  the 
war,  and  joined  the  enemy ;  but  returning,  was,  by  act  of  May, 
1783,  ordered  and  required  to  quit  it. 

SPOONER,  EBENEZER.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax  in  1776. 

SPOONER,  GAPHINEAH.  A  magistrate,  of  New  York.  In  April, 
1782,  he  signed  an  Address  to  the  British  Legion,  on  their 
departure  from  the  District  of  Foster's  Meadow  and  Spring 
field,  "  in  behalf  of  twenty-six  most  respectable  inhabitants," 
and  Loyalists  of  that  neighborhood. 

SPOONER,  GEORGE.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774;  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

SPRAGG,  CALEB  and  RICHARD.  Were  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick. 

SPRAGG,  THOMAS.  A  captain.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  died 
at  Springfield,  King's  County,  in  1812,  aged  eighty-two. 

SPRING,  MARSHALL.  A  physician,  of  Massachusetts.  Was  born 
in  Watertown.  In  1762  he  graduated  at  Harvard  University. 
He  settled  at  Waltham,  where  his  practice  became  extensive. 
Though  opposed  to  the  Revolution,  he  was  a  friend  of  the  ad 
ministration  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  left  his  son  a  large  fortune. 
He  died  in  January,  1818,  aged  seventy-five.  His  reputation 
for  medical  skill  was  great,  and  his  wit  keen. 

SPRINGER,  WILLIAM.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

SPRISD,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SPROULE,  THOMAS.  Of  Long  Island,  New  York.  He  settled 
in  New  Brunswick,  and  became  surveyor-general  of  that  Col- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  629 

ony,  and  a  member  of  his  Majesty's  Colonial  Council.  He 
died  at  Fredericton  in  1817,  aged  seventy-six. 

SPROUT,  DAVID.  Was  a  commissary  of  naval  prisoners  at 
New  York.  It  was  stated  that  upwards  of  eleven  thousand 
Americans  died  on  board  of  the  prison  ships  at  New  York, 
and  the  statement,  it  is  believed,  has  never  been  contradicted. 
Mr.  Sprout  returned  subequent  to  the  Revolution,  and  fixed 
his  residence  at  Philadelphia,  where  he  died. 

SQUARE,  RICHARD.  Of  Lanesborough,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

SQUEIRS.  Of  Connecticut.  Seth,  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  six  children,  and  Seth  junior,  arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  spring  of  1783,  in  the  ship  Union ;  and 
Richard  was  a  grantee  of  that  city  the  same  year.  They  be 
longed  to  Stratford. 

STAGEY,  RICHARD.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

STACKHOUSE,  ROBERT.  Died  at  Carlton3  New  Brunswick,  in 
1831,  aged  seventy-six. 

STACKS,  HENRY.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  Failing  to 
surrender  himself  for  trial,  it  was  ordered  in  Council  in  1778, 
that  he  stand  attainted. 

STAFFORD,  WILLIAM.  He  was  surgeon's  mate  of  the  Mary 
land  Loyalists. 

STANBURY,  JOSEPH.  Was  largely  concerned  in  the  lumber 
business.  In  1780  he  was  detected  in  illicit  trade  with  the 
royal  forces,  and  was  committed  to  prison  in  Philadelphia. 

STANLEY,  THOMAS.  An  ensign  of  infantry  in  the  British  Le 
gion. 

STANSBURY,  ADONIJAH.  Of  Delaware.  He  became  a  settler 
at  Wyoming,  where  he  was  soon  recognized  as  a  disguised 
enemy.  In  1777,  after  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  a  per 
son  of  opposite  political  sentiments,  who  purchased  his  prop 
erty,  he  retired  from  the  settlement,  and  from  the  storm  which 
his  course  of  conduct  had  created. 

STANTON,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 
53* 


630  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery  of  St.  John,  in  1795. 
He  died  in  1823,  aged  sixty-eight.  His  son  Benjamin  was 
the  first  male  child  of  Loyalist  parentage  born  in  St.  John. 

STANTON,  GILES.  Of  Rhode  Island.  In  1777  he  received  a 
commission  as  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal  Newport  Associators. 

STAPLETON,  SAMUEL.   Cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion. 

STARK,  JOHN.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Guides 
and  Pioneers. 

STARK,  WILLIAM.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  an  officer  in 
the  French  war,  and  saw  much  service ;  having  been  engaged  in 
the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point,  Louisburg,  and  Que 
bec.  As  the  war  of  the  Revolution  opened,  he  applied  for  the 
command  of  a  regiment,  but  the  New  Hampshire  Assembly 
preferred  another  officer,  and  he  went  over  to  the  side  of  the 
crown,  and  became  a  colonel  in  the  royal  army.  He  endeav 
ored  to  persuade  General  John  Stark,  the  victor  of  Bennington, 
who  was  his  brother,  to  adopt  the  same  course ;  but  John  was 
not  to  be  moved.  William  Stark  is  represented  as  a  man  of 
great  bravery  and  hardihood,  but  as  wanting  in  moral  firmness. 
He  was  killed  at  Long  Island,  New  York,  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse.  His  name  appears  in  the  banishment  and  proscription 
act  of  New  Hampshire,  and  his  estate  was  also  confiscated. 

STARR,  DAVID.     Died  at  Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1828. 

STARR,  JOSEPH.  Died  at  Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1840, 
aged  eighty-four  years. 

STAVERS,  BARTHOLOMEW.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished. 

STEARNS,  JONATHAN.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1770.  Removing  to  Nova  Scotia  with 
the  British  army  in  1776,  he  was  appointed  Solicitor  General 
of  that  Colony  in  1797,  but  died  the  following  year,  and  was 
succeeded  by  James  Stewart.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Robie,  a  Loyalist,  who  is  noticed  in  these  pages. 
Before  leaving  the  United  States,  Mr.  Stearns  was  driven  from 
his  residence,  and  was  one  of  the  eighteen  country  gentlemen 
who  were  Addressers  of  Gage. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  631 

STEDMAN,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Philadelphia.  In  1778,  the  Coun 
cil  of  Pennsylvania  ordered,  that  if  he  failed  to  surrender 
himself  within  a  certain  time,  and  take  his  trial  for  treason, 
he  should  stand  attainted. 

STELLE,  EDWARD.  Captain  Lieutenant  of  the  Second  Bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

STENHOUSE,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Maryland.  Went  to  England. 
In  1779  he  was  in  London. 

STEPHENS,  JOHN.     Died  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1805. 

STEPHENS,  SOLOMON.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished.  Solomon  Stephens,  a  Loyalist,  died  at  Mus 
quash,  New  Brunswick,  1819,  aged  sixty-six. 

STEPHENS,  THOMAS.  A  captain  in  the  militia  of  Danbury, 
Connecticut.  In  1775,  he  was  Moderator  of  a  public  meet 
ing,  called,  as  appears,  on  purpose  to  discountenance  the 
proceedings  of  the  Whigs  of  that  town,  at  a  previous  meet 
ing. 

STERLING,  BENJAMIN  F.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  Brit 
ish  army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

STEVENS,  BENJAMIN.  Of  Kittery,  Maine.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1740,  and  was  ordained  a  minister  in 
1751.  At  a  subsequent  period,  he  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity.  On  the  death  of  Doctor  Holyoke,  Presi 
dent  of  Harvard  University,  he  was  thought  of  as  his  succes 
sor.  Hutchinson  says,  that  "the  corporation,  who  were  to 
elect  a"  president,  "consulted  the  Boston  representatives  in 
every  step.  Two  of  the  corporation  [Doctor  Winthrop,  Pro 
fessor  of  Mathematics,  and  Doctor  Cooper,  one  of  the  ministers 
of  Boston],  great  friends  of  the  popular  cause,  were  succes 
sively  elected,  and  declined  accepting.  The  minister  of  Kittery 
would  have  had  the  voice  of  the  people,  if  his  political  prin 
ciples  had  not  been  a  bar.  The  want  of  a  concurrence  with 
other  necessary  qualifications  in  the  same  person,  caused  the 
place  to  remain  vacant  longer  than  usual."  Doctor  Stevens 
died  in  1791,  aged  seventy.  Several  of  his  sermons  were  pub 
lished.  He  sustained  an  excellent  character,  and  was  an  able 
man. 


632  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

STEVENS,  ENOS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  His  estate  was  con 
fiscated,  and  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 

STEVENS,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

STEVENS,  PHINEAS.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished. 

STEVENS,  SHUBAL.  Died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick, 
1826,  aged  seventy-four. 

STEVENS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Saluda,  South  Carolina.  Held  a 
royal  commission  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston,  in  1780. 
Estate  confiscated. 

STEVENSON,  FRANCIS.  An  officer  of  infantry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers. 

STEVENSON,  WILLIAM.  In  17S2  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Third  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

STEVENSON. .     An  officer  in  a  band  of  plunderers. 

STEWART,  ANDREW.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  Thomas  Stewart, 
of  that  city,  was  also  an  Addresser. 

STEWART,  ANTHONY.  In  July,  1783,  he  was  at  New  York, 
and  one  of  the  fifty-five  who  petitioned  for  grants  of  lands  in 
Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard. 

STEWART,  DUNCAN.  Of  Connecticut.  Went  to  England.  In 
July,  1779,  he  was  in  London. 

STEWART,  ISAAC.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

STEWART,  JAMES.  I  conclude  was  a  Loyalist.  He  was  an 
early  settler  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  survived  all  the 
gentlemen  who,  with  him,  in  1785,  were  appointed  to  civil 
office  under  the  charter  of  that  city.  He  died  at  Cheltenham, 
England,  in  1840,  aged  seventy-nine  years. 

STEWART,  WILLIAM.  He  removed  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Bruns 
wick,  on  the  evacuation  of  Castine  by  the  royal  troops,  in 
1783,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  decease.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  pilot  of  that  port.  A  large  family  of 
children  and  grandchildren  survived  him.  His  wife  died  at  St. 
Andrew's  Island,  September,  1843,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  633 

STEWART.  Besides  the  preceding,  eleven  were  in  service. 
Thus : 

STEWART,  ALEXANDER.  Was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  North 
Carolina  Highland  Regiment. 

STEWART,  ALEXANDER.  Brother  of  William  Stewart.  A 
lieutenant  in  the  King's  American  Dragoons.  After  the  war 
he  and  William  settled  in  Upper  Canada. 

STEWART,  ANDREW.     A  captain  in  the  Georgia  Loyalists. 

STEWART,  DONALD.  A  lieutenant  in  the  North  Carolina 
Highland  Regiment. 

STEWART,  HUGH.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion. 

STEWART,  JAMES.  An  officer  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the 
grantees  of  that  city.  He  died  at  Nashwaak,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1837,  aged  eighty-two,  leaving  a  widow,  eight  children, 
and  forty-two  grandchildren. 

STEWART,  JAMES.    Chaplain  in  the  King's  Rangers,  Carolina. 

STEWART,  JOHN.     An  ensign  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists. 

STEWART,  NEAL.  A  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Orange  Ran 
gers. 

STEWART,  PATRICK.  A  captain  of  infantry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

STEWART,  WILLIAM.  A  captain  in  the  King's  American 
Dragoons. 

STILWELL,  DANIEL.  An  early  settler  of  the  Colony  of  New 
Brunswick.  He  died  at  Grand  Lake,  Queen's  County,  in 
1842,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years,  having  resided  in  New 
Brunswick  fifty-nine  years. 

STILWELL,  JOHN.  Of  Tuscarora,  Pennsylvania.  Failing  to 
appear  and  be  tried  for  treason,  the  Council,  in  1778,  ordered 
that  he  should  stand  attainted. 

STIMSON,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

STINSON,  JOHN,  JOHN  Junior,  and  SAMUEL.  Of  New  Hamp 
shire.  Were  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  John  Stinson,  a 
Loyalist,  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 


634  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

STIRLING,  JOHN.     A  lieutenant  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists. 

STIRLING,  JONATHAN.  Of  Maryland.  A  captain  in  the  Mary 
land  Loyalists.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He  received 
half-pay.  He  died  at  St.  Mary's,  York  County,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1826,  aged  seventy-six.  Ann,  his  widow,  died  at  the 
same  place  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

STIRLING,  WILLIAM.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Maryland  Loyalists. 

STIVERS,  JASPER.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester. 

ST.  JOHN,  NEHEMIAH.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Reading  Association. 

ST.  JOHN,  THOMAS.  An  ensign  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Bat 
talion. 

STOBO,  JOHN.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1799, 
aged  thirty-five. 

STOCKTON,  ANDREW.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal 
Foresters.  In  1784  he  received  the  grant  of  a  lot  in  the  city 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  died  at  Sussex  Vale.  He 
enjoyed  half-pay. 

STOCKTON,  RICHARD  V.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  a 
major  in  the  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  and  was  taken  prisoner. 
He  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city.  He  received  half-pay.  He  died  in 
New  Brunswick.  His  daughter  Phebe  Harriet  died  at  Sussex 
Vale,  in  that  Colony,  in  1821,  aged  sixty.  Major  Stockton 
was  called  in  the  contest,  "Stockton,  the  famous  land-pilot " 
of  the  king's  troops. 

STODDARD,  SIMEON,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774. 

STODDARD,  .  A  major  in  the  militia  of  Massachusetts. 

When,  in  1775,  Graves  and  Jones  were  committed  to  North 
ampton  jail,  and  placed  in  close  confinement,  on  a  charge  of 
improper  communication  with  Gage  at  Boston,  a  hue  and  cry 
was  raised  against  him,  and  he  fled  to  New  York  for  safety. 
I  suppose  he  belonged  to  Pittsfield.  "  Our  Tories,"  says  a  wri 
ter  of  the  time  of  that  town,  "  are  the  worst  in  the  Province." 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  635 

STOKES,  ANTHONY.     Chief  Justice,  of  Georgia. 

STOKES,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate 
was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

STOLLER,  MICHAEL.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  he  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

STOPTON,  JOHN.  He  was  banished,  and  his  estate  was  con 
fiscated.  In  1794  he  represented  to  the  British  government  in 
a  memorial  dated  at  London,  that  at  the  time  of  his  banish 
ment,  several  large  debts  were  due  to  him  in  America,  which 
he  had  been  unable  to  recover,  and  he  desired  relief.  Though 
sums  of  money  due  to  proscribed  Loyalists  were  not  included, 
(as  it  was  generally  admitted),  in  the  confiscation  acts,  the 
courts  of  some  of  the  States  were  slow  to  coerce  debtors. 

STONE,  EBENEZER.  Died  in  Queen's  County,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1836,  aged  eighty-nine. 

STORY,  ENOCH.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Went  to  England.  In 
1779  he  was  in  London. 

STOWE,  EDWARD.  Mariner,  of  Boston.  He  went  to  Halifax 
in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

STOWELL,  CORNELIUS.  Lieutenant  of  militia,  of  Worcester, 
Massachusetts.  Returning  at  night,  early  in  1775,  from  a 
visit  to  a  neighbor,  who  Avas  suspected  of  desertion  from  the 
popular  cause,  he  was  knocked  down,  and  badly  bruised  and 
wounded,  because  he  was  known  as  a  true  friend  to  govern 
ment,  and  was  supposed  to  exercise  an  influence  upon  the 
political  course  of  a  neighbor,  at  whose  house  he  had  passed 
the  evening. 

STRAIGHT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Killingsworth,  Connecticut.  He 
was  a  refiner  of  iron.  In  1783  he  arrived  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union. 

STRANG,  DANIEL.  In  1777  he  was  taken  with  a  paper  in 
his  possession  written  by  Colonel  Robert  Rogers,  who  then 
commanded  the  Queen's  Rangers,  dated  at  Valentine's  Hill, 
30th  December,  1776,  which  authorized  him,  or  any  other 
gentleman,  to  bring  in  recruits  for  his  Majesty's  service,  and 
which  pointed  out  the  terms  and  rewards  that  were  to  be 
offered  to  persons  who  enlisted.  When  captured,  Strang  was 


636  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

near  the  Whig  camp  at  Peekskill.  "  He  was  tried  by  a  court- 
martial,  and,  making  no  defence,  was  condemned  to  suffer 
death,  on  the  charge  of  holding  correspondence  with  the  ene 
my,  and  lurking  around  the  camp  as  a  spy.  General  Wash 
ington  approved  the  sentence." 

STRANG,  GABRIEL.  Was  an  officer  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists. 
He  went  to  St.  John  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was 
one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city.  He  settled  there,  and  re 
ceived  half-pay.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1826,  aged  seventy- 
one. 

STRANGE,  LOT,  the  3d.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  He  died  at  or  near  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  about  the  year  1819. 

STRICTLAND,  JAMES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

STUART,  JOHN.  An  Episcopal  minister,  of  New  York. 
He  lived  at  or  near  Warrensburgh.  In  1775  he  refused  to 
sign  the  Whig  Association.  I  suppose  this  to  have  been  the 
gentleman  who  is  mentioned  in  Mrs.  Grant's  Memoirs  of  an 
American  Lady,  under  the  year  1759,  as  "  a  pious  missionary 
in  the  Mohawk  country,  as  one  who  was  perfectly  calculated 
for  his  austere  and  uncourtly  duties,  who  was  wholly  de 
voted  to  them,  and  who  scarce  cast  a  look  back  to  the 
world  which  he  had  forsaken."  He  went  to  Canada. 

STUART,  JOHN.  A  native  of  South  Carolina.  Was  Indian 
Agent,  and  member  of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  most  of  the 
Southern  Colonies.  The  documents  of  the  time  show  that 
Mr.  Stuart  was  an  active  and  formidable  opponent  of  the 
Whigs  and  their  measures.  In  June,  1779,  the  Committee  of 
Intelligence  of  Charleston,  addressed  to  him  two  letters, 
in  which  they  set  forth  the  views  entertained  of  him  by  the 
public,  and  to  which  he  replied  very  fully,  July  18,  of  that 
year.  Mr.  Stuart  was  then  at  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  to  which 
place,  it  appears,  he  had  gone  from  Charleston,  in  consequence 
of  information  of  a  design  to  seize  his  person.  The  Committee 
called  his  quitting  South  Carolina,  a  precipitate  departure  ;  but 
he  answered,  that  he  should  "ever  consider  it  a  most  fortu- 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  637 

nate  escape."  They  told  him  that  his  estate  would  be  consid 
ered  as  a  "  security  for  the  good  behavior  of  the  Indians,"  to 
which  remark  he  rejoined,  that  it  was  "  disagreeable  that  his 
all  should  be  held  by  so  precarious  tenure,"  and  the  "  holding 
of  his  personal  safety  and  life  itself  on  such  terms,  would  be 
more  so." 

STRUDWICKE,  SAMUEL.  The  secretary,  and  a  member  of  the 
Council,  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  present  with  Hasell. 
Rutherford,  Howard,  and  Cornell,  in  Council,  March  1,  1775, 
and  conceiving  the  highest  detestation  of  illegal  meetings, 
advised  Governor  Martin  to  issue  a  Proclamation  to  inhibit 
and  forbid  the  meeting  of  the  Whig  Convention  called  at  New- 
bern  on  the  3d  of  April  following. 

STURGIS,  EBENEZER.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading.  Two  others  of  the 
name,  of  Reading,  were  members;  viz:  a  second  Ebenezer, 
and  Benjamin. 

SULLIVAN,  BARTHOLOMEW.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the 
British  army  for  Halifax,  in  1776.  George  Sullivan  did  the 
same. 

SULLIVAN,  JOHN.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Went  to  England.  In 
1779  he  was  in  London. 

SUTHERLAND,  ALEXANDER.  Was  an  ensign  in  the  Royal  Fen- 
sible  Americans.  He  was  continued  in  service  after  that 
corps  was  disbanded,  and  received  a  commission  in  the  British 
army. 

SUTHERLAND,  WILLIAM.  In  1782  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Garrison  Battalion,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 

SUTTEN,  WILLIAM.  A  magistrate,  of  Westchester  County. 
New  York.  A  Protester. 

SUTTER,  CHARLES.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

SUTTER,  JAMES.  Died  in  New  Brunswick  in  1817,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six. 

SUTTON,  WILLIAM.     A  magistrate,  of  North  Hempstead,  New 
York.     A  distinguished  Loyalist.     In  1779  he  was  seized  at 
Cow  Neck,  by  a  party  of  Whigs,  and  carried  away  prisoner. 
54 


638 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


SUYDAM.  Cornelius,  Jacob,  Farnandus,  Jacobus,  John,  and 
Hendrick,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  acknowledged 
allegiance,  October,  1776.  John  Suydam  was  an  Addresser  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling,  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment, 
April,  1779.  Some  Whigs,  taken  prisoners,  were  quartered  at 
the  house  of  Jacob. 

SWANTON,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  Second  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

SWAN  WICK,  RICHARD.  An  officer  of  the  Customs,  Philadel 
phia.  His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

SWASEY,  JOSEPH.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

SWEET,  GEORGE.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  one  child,  in  the  ship 
Union,  in  the  spring  of  1783.  He  died  at  Carlton,  near  that 
city,  in  1818,  aged  sixty-nine. 

SWIFT,  JOSEPH.     A  captain  in  the  Pennsylvania  Loyalists. 

SWITZER,  PETER.  A  grantee  of  a  lot  in  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

SYMONDSON,  JOHN.  Entered  the  military  service  of  the  king, 
and  in  1782  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  re 
ceived  half-pay.  He  died  in  that  Colony. 

TARBELL,  HUGH.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year.  In 
1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

TARBELL,  SAMUEL.  A  lieutenant  in  the  King's  American 
Dragoons. 

TAYLOR,  ARCHIBALD.  Of  North  Carolina.  A  major  of  the 
Royal  Militia  of  North  Carolina.  He  died  at  Nassau,  New 
Providence,  in  1816. 

TAYLOR,  DANIEL.  Of  New  York.  In  1777  he  was  dispatched 
by  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  Burgoyne,  with  intelligence  of  the 
capture  of  Fort  Montgomery,  and  was  taken  on  his  way  by 
the  Whigs  as  a  spy.  Finding  himself  in  danger,  he  turned 
aside,  took  a  small  silver  ball  or  bullet  from  his  pocket  and 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  639 

swallowed  it.  The  act  was  seen,  and  Qerieral  George  Clinton, 
into  whose  hands  he  had  fallen,  ordered  a  severe  dose  of 
emetic  tartar  to  be  administered,  which  caused  him  to  dis 
charge  the  bullet.  On  being  unscrewed,  the  silver  was  found 
to  contain  a  letter  from  the  one  British  General  to  the  other, 
which  ran  as  follows. 

"  Fort  Montgomery,  Oct.  8,  1777. 

"Nous  voici  —  and  nothing  between  us  but  Gates.  I  sin 
cerely  hope  this  little  success  of  ours  may  facilitate  your 
operations.  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  28th  of  September  by 
C.  C.,  I  shall  only  say,  I  cannot  presume  to  order,  or  even 
advise,  for  reasons  obvious.  I  heartily  wish  you  success. 

"  Faithfully  yours, 

"  H.  CLINTON." 
"  To  General  Burgoyne." 

Taylor  was  tried,  convicted,  arid  executed,  shortly  after  his 
detection. 

TAYLOR,  GILHAM.  Died  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1843, 
aged  eighty-six. 

TAYLOR,  JAMES.  Died  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick, 
January,  1835,  aged  seventy-nine  years.  He  was  a  native  of 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  emigrated  to  New  York  in  early  life, 
and  during  the  Revolution  was  present  on  many  a  hard  fought 
field.  He  went  to  St.  Andrew  at  the  peace  in  1783,  and 
built  the  third  house  erected  in  that  town,  which  stood  until 
within  a  few  months  of  his  decease. 

TAYLOR,  JAMES.  One  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  New  Bruns 
wick.  Died  on  the  river  St.  John,  January,  1834,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Assembly  for  some  years,  for  the  County  of  Sunbury.  He 
left  a  large  family. 

TAYLOR,  JAMES.  Of  New  York.  Settled  in  New  Brunswick 
in  1783,  and  died  at  Sheffield,  in  that  Colony,  in  1841,  aged 
eighty-six,  leaving  three  sons  and  four  daughters. 

TAYLOR,  JAMES.  A  magistrate.  Died  at  Fredericton,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1835,  aged  seventy-nine. 


640  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

TAYLOR,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in 
1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same  year.  In 
1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage.  John  Taylor,'  Esquire, 
died  at  Boston  in  1817,  aged  seventy-seven. 

TAYLOR,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  a  captain  in  the  First  Bat 
talion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

TAYLOR,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  quartermaster  of  the 
Guides  and  Pioneers. 

TAYLOR,  JOHN  WARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

TAYLOR,  JOSEPH.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  England.  I  conclude  that 
Joseph  Taylor,  who  died  at  Boston  in  1816,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one,  was  the  same. 

TAYLOR,  MATTHEW.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

TAYLOR,  NATHANIEL.  Deputy  naval  officer,  of  Boston.  An 
Addresser  of  Gage  in  1775,  went  to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

TAYLOR,  WILLIAM.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  Hali 
fax  in  1776.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 
A  person  of  this  name  died  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  in 
1810,  aged  seventy-three. 

TELFAIR,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Halifax,  North  Carolina.  In  1779 
his  property  was  confiscated. 

TELFAIR,  HUGH.  Of  Halifax,  North  Carolina.  His  property 
was  confiscated  in  1779. 

TEMPLE,  ROBERT.  Of  Massachusetts.  In  1775  he  took  pas 
sage  at  Boston  for  London,  but  the  vessel  in  which  he  em 
barked  proving  leaky,  the  captain  put  into  Plymouth,  Massa 
chusetts,  to  refit.  While  at  Plymouth,  in  May  31,  1775,  Mr. 
Temple  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Committee  of 
Safety. 

"  I,  Robert  Temple,  of  Ten  Hills,  near  Charlestown,  New 
England,  do  declare,  that  I  have  received  no  injury  to  my 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  641 

property,  nor  have  I  been  under  any  apprehensions  of  danger 
to  either  my  person  or  property  from  the  troops  that  are  under 
the  command  of  General  Ward ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  I  have 
been  so  threatened,  searched  for,  attacked  by  the  name  of 
Tory,  an  enemy  to  this  country,  and  treated  in  such  a  manner, 
that  not  only  my  own  judgment,  but  that  of  my  friends,  and 
almost  the  whole  of  the  town  where  I  lived,  made  it  necessary 
for  me  to  fly  from  my  home.  I  am  confident  that  this  is 
owing  to  the  wickedness  of  a  few,  who  have  prejudiced  some 
short-sighted  people  against  me,  who  live  too  far  from  my 
abode  to  be  acquainted  with  my  proper  character.  I  am  con 
firmed  in  this  opinion  from  the  kind  protection  that  my  wife 
and  family  have  received,  and  continue  to  receive  from  Gen 
eral  Ward,  as  well  as  from  the  sentiments  which  the  Commit 
tee  of  Safety  have  been  pleased  to  entertain  of  me. 

"R.  TEMPLE." 

As  Mr.  Temple  was  represented  to  be  "  a  high-flying  Tory," 
he  was  made  prisoner  at  Plymouth,  and  sent  to  the  camp  at 
Cambridge.  His  papers  were  also  secured,  and  among  them 
were  found  several  letters  from  officers  of  the  royal  army  at 
Boston  to  friends  at  home.  He  was  released,  went  abroad, 
and  was  in  London  with  his  family  in  1780.  He  died  in  Eng 
land  before  the  close  of  the  war.  His  brother,  Sir  John  Tem 
ple,  Baronet,  who  was  consul-general  of  Great  Britain  to  the 
United  States,  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Bowdoin. 

TENBROECK,  PETER.  A  magistrate,  of  Tryon,  now  Montgom 
ery  County,  New  York.  A  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  loyalty 
in  1775. 

TERREE,  ZEBEDEE.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  He  went 
to  Halifax  in  1776,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 
The  son  of  a  Freetown  Loyalist  has  informed  me,  that  Terree 
was  in  New  Brunswick  for  a  time,  but  returned  to,  and  died 
in  the  United  States,  at  or  near  his  old  home  in  Massachu 
setts. 

TERRY,  EPHRAIM.    Died  at  Cornwallis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1833, 
aged  ninety-one  years. 
54* 


642  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

TERRY,  PARTIAL.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  Son  of  a 
respectable  Whig  of  that  beautiful  valley.  Joining  the  force 
of  Tories  and  Indians  sent  against  the  settlement,  it  is  averred, 
that  "with  his  own  hands  he  murdered  his  father,  mother, 
brothers,  and  sisters,  stripped  off  their  scalps,  and  cut  off  his 
father's  head."  The  story  is  of  doubtful  truth,  though  it  ob 
tained  common  belief  in  1778,  and  is  yet  to  be  found  in  his 
tory. 

TERRY,  THOMAS.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  also 
engaged  in  the  Massacre,  and  the  tale  that  he  "butchered  his 
own  mother,  his  father-in-law,  his  sisters  and  their  infant  chil 
dren,"  rests  upon  the  same  dubious  authority  as  the  account 
which  precedes. 

THACHER,  BARTHOLOMEW.  A  captain  in  the  Second  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Yolunteers. 

THADFORD,  WILLIAM.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
a  Declaration  against  the  Whigs,  January,  1775. 

THAIN,  JAMES.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city  in  1783. 

THAYER,  ARODI.  Marshal  of  the  Admiral  Court,  Massachu 
setts.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

THA.YER,  ZIPHION.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year. 

THEALE,  CHARLES.  Died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1814,  aged  seventy-nine. 

THOMAS,  CHARLES.  Of  Connecticut.  In  the  struggle  he  en 
gaged  in  marine  enterprises  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  but  was 
unfortunate  in  his  exertions  and  results.  He  settled  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783,  and  died  in  that  city  in  1818, 
aged  seventy-five,  "  a  worn-out  American  exile."  That  "he 
never  wavered  in  his  attachment  to  his  king,"  was  his 
boast. 

THOMAS,  EVAN.  A  native  of  Pennsylvania.  Settled  at  New 
Brunswick.  He  died  at  Pennfield,  December,  1835,  aged  nine 
ty,  leaving  children,  grandchildren,  great-grandchildren,  and 
great,  great-grandchildren. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  643 

THOMAS,  GEORGE.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment,  and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 

THOMAS,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  During  the  Revolution 
he  commanded  a  company  in  a  Loyalist  corps;  and  in  1783  he 
removed  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of 
that  city.  The  British  government  continued  him  in  service, 
and  he  was  assistant  engineer  in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova 
Scotia  for  a  period  of  forty  years.  He  died  at  St.  John,  in 
1828,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

THOMAS,  NATHANIEL  RAY.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1751.  He  bore  the  odious  office  of  Man 
damus  Councillor,  and  shared  in  the  troubles  from  mobs,  which 
were  visited  upon  most  of  the  members  of  that  board.  His 
property  was  confiscated.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776.  His 
death  occurred  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1791.  He  is  spoken  of  in 
McFingal,  as 

"  That  Marshfield  blunderer,  Nat.  Ray  Thomas." 

THOMAS,  STEPHEN,  SAMUEL,  WALTER,  and  THOMAS.  Were 
grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  The  last 
died  in  that  city  in  1831,  aged  eighty-five. 

THOMAS,  .  He  commanded  a  company  of  Loyalists 

called  the  Bucks  County  Volunteers ;  and  for  a  time  was  en 
gaged  in  a  predatory  warfare  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia. 
After  Arnold's  treason,  he  was  under  the  traitor's  orders,  and 
accompanied  him  in  his  expedition  to  Virginia. 

THOMPSON,  SIR  BENJAMIN.  Better  known  as  Count  Rum- 
ford.  He  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1753.  It  was  intended 
that  he  should  become  a  merchant,  but  he  evinced  great  devo 
tion  to  the  mechanic  arts,  and  little  or  no  aptitude  for  business. 
Through  the  kindness  of  his  friend,  Sheriff  Baldwin,  he  ob 
tained  leave  to  attend  philosophical  lectures  at  Cambridge :  and 
afterwards  taught  school  at  Rumford,  now  Concord,  New  Hamp 
shire.  While  at  Concord,  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Walker,  then  the  widow  of  B.  Rolfe.  By  this  marriage  his 
pecuniary  circumstances  were  rendered  easy.  In  the  Revolu 
tionary  controversy,  he  seems  inclined  to  have  been  a  Whig, 


644  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

but  was  distrusted  by  that  party,  and  at  length  incurred  their 
unqualified  odium.  Had  there  been  less  suspicion,  and  more 
kindness,  it  is  very  probable  that  his  talents  would  have  been 
devoted  to  his  country.  As  it  was,  he  adhered  to  the  king, 
abandoned  his  family,  and  in  1775  went  to  England.  There 
he  accepted  of  civil  employment  under  the  government,  and 
under  the  patronage  of  Lord  Germaine,  and  became  an  under 
secretary.  Towards  the  close  of  the  war  he  came  out  to  New 
York,  and  was  in  command  of  a  regiment  called  the  King's 
American  Dragoons.  Returning  to  England,  he  was  knighted, 
and  received  half-pay.  Becoming  acquainted  with  the  min 
ister  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  he  was  induced  to  go  to  Munich, 
where  he  introduced  important  reforms  in  the  police.  From 
this  prince  he  received  high  military  rank,  and  the  title  of 
Count  Rurnford,  of  the  empire.  He  was  again  in  London  in 
the  year  1800,  and  projected  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great 
Britain.  He  died  in  France  in  1814.  His  first  wife,  whom  he 
appears  to  have  deserted,  died  in  New  Hampshire,  in  1792. 
Count  Rumford  bequeathed  a  handsome  sum  to  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  and  a  Professorship  bears  his  name.  His  philosophical 
labors  and  discoveries  gave  him  a  high  reputation,  and  caused 
him  to  be  elected  member  of  many  learned  societies.  His 
name  is  found  among  the  proscribed  and  banished  in  New 
Hampshire,  by  the  statute  of  1778. 

THOMPSON,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  In  1777  he  was  appointed 
by  General  Robertson  to  the  agency  of  cutting  and  supplying 
the  poor  of  the  city  of  New  York  with  wood,  at  the  "cost  of 
cutting  and  carting,  and  four  shillings  per  load  for  his  trouble." 
Fuel,  at  the  time  of  this  appointment,  was  high  ;  but,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  large  quantities  brought  in,  walnut  wood  was 
soon  reduced  to  £4  per  cord,  and  fifty-five  shillings  for  any 
other.  During  some  part  of  the  war,  the  ill-fated  Andre  was 
Mr.  Thompson's  boarder.  In  1783  he  removed  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  where  he  established  himself  as  a  merchant. 
He  was  an  alderman,  and  for  eighteen  years  the  chamberlain 
of  that  city.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1825,  aged  seventy.  He 
occupied  the  Caldwell  House,  in  Prince  William  Street,  which 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  645 

was  the  first  framed  building  erected  in  St.  John,  and  was 
burned  in  the  fire  of  1837. 

THOMPSON,  ANDREW  and  G.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Were  addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  A  Loyalist  of 
the  name  of  George  Thomson,  of  South  Carolina,  was  in  Eng 
land  the  year  previous.  Perhaps  some  of  the  following  should 
be  Thomson. 

THOMPSON,  ARCHIBALD.  Was  detected  in  1778,  with  a  letter 
for  Brant,  and  imprisoned. 

THOMPSON,  DAVID.  Shipwright,  of  Southwick,  Pennsyl 
vania.  His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779.  David  Thomson 
was  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1784,  an  Addresser  of  Sir 
Charles  Douglass. 

THOMPSON,  DOUGALD.  Of  New  York.  Was  at  Castine, 
Maine,  from  the  time  the  royal  forces  took  possession  of  that 
place  until  they  evacuated  it  at  the  peace.  He  died  at  St. 
Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  in  1812,  aged  sixty-three. 

THOMPSON,  GEORGE.  Of  Georgia.  Went  to  England  pre 
vious  to  July,  1779. 

THOMPSON,  JOHN.  Of  Halifax,  North  Carolina.  Lost  his 
property  by  confiscation  in  1779. 

THOMPSON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Mispillion,  Delaware.  Was  pro 
scribed  in  1778. 

THOMPSON, .  Of  Medford,  Massachusetts.  In  June,  1775, 

news  reached  the  Provincial  Congress,  (as  a  Committee  of 
that  body  reported),  that,  the  Irvings  of  Boston,  had  fitted  out, 
under  color  of  chartering  to  Thompson,  a  schooner  of  their 
own,  to  make  a  voyage  to  New  Providence  to  procure  "  fruit, 
turtle,  and  provisions  of  other  kinds,  for  the  sustenance  and 
feasting  of  those  troops  who  are,  as  pirates  and  robbers,  com 
mitting  daily  hostilities  and  depredations  on  the  good  people  of 
this  Colony  and  all  America."  Congress  therefore  resolved, 
that  Captain  Samuel  McCobb,  a  member,  "  be  immediately 
despatched  to  Salem  and  Marblehead,  to  secure  said  Thomp 
son,  and  prevent  said  vessel  from  going  said  voyage,  and  cause 
the  said  Thompson  to  be  brought  to  this  Congress."  A  Mr. 
Thompson,  of  Medford,  died  in  England  during  the  war; 


646  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

probably  the  same.  I  find  also,  that  James  Thomson  accom 
panied  the  British  troops  to  Halifax  at  the  evacuation  of  Bos 
ton  ;  and  that  Joseph  Thompson,  of  Massachusetts,  was  in 
London  in  1779,  an  Addresser  of  the  king. 

THOMPSON.  Residence  unknown.  Three  were  officers  in 
the  New  Jersey  Volunteers ;  namely,  John,  a  lieutenant  in  the 
first  battalion ;  Lewis,  an  ensign,  and  Cornelius,  an  ensign 
and  adjutant  of  the  second.  Benjamin  was  cornet  of  cavalry 
in  the  Queen's  Rangers;  and  James,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second 
American  Regiment ;  possibly  the  latter  was  the  James  Thom 
son  above,  who  left  Boston  in  1776. 

THORN,  WILLIAM  and  JOSEPH.  Were  grantees  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

THORNE,  PETER.  Died  at  Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1744,  aged 
eighty-seven.  Peter  Thorn,  of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut, 
was  a  member  of  the  Reading  Association  in  1 775. 

THORNE.  Twenty-three,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York, 
acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit:  Charles, 
Samuel,  Joseph,  Samuel,  Benjamin  junior,  John,  Benjamin, 
Melancthon,  Stephen,  Thomas  junior,  George,  Joseph,  Philip, 
Stephen,  Philip,  Daniel,  Stephen  junior,  Joseph,  Thomas, 
Richard,  John,  Edward,  and  Oliver. 

THORP,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city  in  1783. 

THROCKMORTON,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Rangers. 
In  November,  1782,  he  had  retired  to  the  Island  of  St.  John, 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

THURSTON,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Rhode  Island.  In  1777  he 
received  a  commission  as  lieutenant  in  the  Loyal  Newport 
Associators.  , 

TIDD,  JOSEPH.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was 
a  grantee  of  that  city  in  1783. 

TILDEN,  ISRAEL.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

TILLY,  SAMUEL.  Of  Brooklyn,  New  York.  A  grantee  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick.  He  died  in  that  Colony.  Elisa 
beth  Morgan,  his  widow,  died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1835,  aged  eighty-four. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  647 

TILSON,  MATTHEW.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Was  tried  in  1778 
on  a  charge  of  supplying  the  enemy  with  provisions,  and 
found  guilty.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  confined  in  the  Provost, 
and  by  day  to  be  continually  employed  on  fatigue  duty,  one 
month. 

TILTON,  JOHN.  He  was  one  of  the  party  who  hung  Captain 
Huddy  in  1782. 

TIMMINS,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  He  went  to  England,  and  I 
suppose  he  died  there  before  the  year  1808  ;  as  the  decease  of 
Mary,  his  widow,  at  Liverpool,  is  then  recorded. 

TIMMS,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

TISDALE,  EPHRAIM.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  In  1775 
he  fled  from  home,  and  went  to  New  York.  During  the  war, 
while  on  a  voyage  to  St.  Augustine,  he  abandoned  his  ves 
sel  at  sea,  to  avoid  capture,  and  gained  the  shore  in  safety. 
Though  nearly  destitute  of  money,  he  accomplished  an  over 
land  journey  to  New  York,  a  distance  by  the  route  which  he 
travelled,  of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  In  1783  he  embarked  at 
New  York  for  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Brothers,  Captain 
Walker ;  and  on  the  passage,  his  wife  gave  birth  to  a  son,  who 
was  named  for  the  master  of  the  ship.  Mr.  Tisdale  held  civil 
and  military  offices  in  New  Brunswick.  He  removed  to  Upper 
Canada  in  1808,  and  died  in  that  Colony  in  1816.  He  left 
eight  sons  and  four  daughters.  Walker  Tisdale,  Esquire,  of 
St.  John,  (the  son  above  referred  to),  was  in  Canada  in  1845, 
when  the  descendants  of  his  father  there  were  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine,  of  whom  he  saw  one  hundred  and  sixty-three. 
The  Tisdales  of  Canada  were  active  on  the  side  of  the  crown 
during  the  recent  Canadian  rebellion.  They  are  distinguished 
for  Loyalty. 

TISDALE,  HENRY.  Of  Freetown,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city.  After 
living  in  New  Brunswick  about  three  years,  he  returned  to 
Freetown,  where  he  died. 


648  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

TITUS.  Six  of  the  name,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York, 
acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit :  Samuel, 
Charles,  Samuel,  Richard,  Peter,  and  Peter  junior.  David 
Titus,  of  the  same  County,  was  an  Addresser  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Sterling,  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  April,  1779. 

TOBLER,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  estate  was 
amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

TOD,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

TODD,  CORTLANDT.  Of  Solebury,  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
proscribed  in  1778.  In  1782  he  was  an  ensign  in  the  Penn 
sylvania  Loyalists. 

TOLLY.  JOHN.  Of  South  wick,  Pennsylvania.  His  estate 
was  confiscated  in  1779. 

TOMLINSON,  ISAAC.  Was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's  Ameri 
can  Dragoons.  John  and  Joseph  were  grantees  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  J.  E.  Tomlinson,  of  North  Caro 
lina,  went  to  England,  and  was  an  Addresser  of  the  king  in 
1779. 

TOMPKINS,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester  at  White  Plains.  His  son  John  was  also  a  Protester. 

TOMPKINS,  THOMAS.  Died  at  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1817,  aged  eighty.  His  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  fifty 
years,  died  at  the  same  place,  the  same  year,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven.  The  Honorable  Thomas  Wyer,  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  New  Brunswick,  married  their  daughter. 

TONGE,  W.  P.  Was  banished,  and  his  estate  was  confis 
cated.  In  1794  he  represented  to  the  British  government,  that 
several  large  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the  time  of  his 
banishment  had  not  been  recovered,  and  he  prayed  for  relief. 

TONGUE,  WINKWORTH.  An  ensign  in  the  Royal  Fensible 
Americans.  He  died  at  Jamaica,  West  Indies. 

TOOLE,  JOHN.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1827, 
aged  seventy-four. 

TOWNE,  BENJAMIN.  Commenced  the  publication  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  Evening  Post,  at  Philadelphia,  January,  1775,  as  a 
Whig  paper,  and  in  opposition  to  Humphrey s's  Ledger,  com- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  649 

menced  the  same  month.  Towne  remained  a  Whig  until  the 
British  army  took  possession  of  the  city,  when  he  became  a 
Loyalist.  On  the  evacuation  of  the  city,  he  professed  to 
return  to  his  former  sentiments,  and  his  paper  again  advocated 
the  popular  cause,  but  he  had  now  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  neither  Whigs  nor  Loyalists.  Though  proscribed  by  the 
government  of  the  State  for  his  aberration,  he  continued  the 
Evening  Post  without  being  molested.  Desiring  to  get  into  favor 
with  his  first  friends,  he  requested  the  celebrated  Witherspoon, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,  to  renew  his  contributions  to  the 
Post,  which  the  Doctor  declined,  but  told  him  if  he  would 
make  his  peace  with  the  country  by  publishing  an  acknowl 
edgment  of  his  offence,  a  profession  of  his  penitence,  and  a 
petition  for  forgiveness,  their  old  relations  should  be  resumed. 
This  Towne  promised  to  do,  and  asked  Witherspoon  to 
write  the  article,  which  he  did  immediately ;  but  Towne,  dis 
liking  some  passages  which  the  Doctor  would  not  allow  him  to 
omit,  refused  to  comply  with  his  promise.  The  piece,  how 
ever,  found  its  way  into  the  public  prints,  and  passing  as  the 
production  of  Towne,  raised  his  reputation  as  a  writer.  In 
this  Recantation,  Towne  is  made  to  speak  of  himself  thus. 
"  I  was  originally  an  understrapper  to  the  famous  Galloway 
in  his  infamous  squabble  with  Goddard,  and  did  in  that  ser 
vice  contract  such  a  habit  of  meanness  in  thinking,  and  scur 
rility  in  writing,  that  nothing  exalted  *  *  *  *  could  ever  be 
expected  from  me.  Now  changing  of  sides  is  not  any  way 
surprising  in  a  person  answering  the  above  description." 
Again,  and  in  conclusion,  "  I  do  hereby  recant,  draw  back,  eat 
in,  and  swallow  down,  every  word  that  I  have  ever  spoken, 
written,  or  printed  to  the  prejudice  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  hoping  it  will  not  only  satisfy  the  good  people  in 
general,  but  also  all  those  scatter-brained  fellows  who  call  one 
another  out  to  shoot  pistols  in  the  air,  while  they  tremble  so 
much  they  cannot  hit  the  mark,"  &c.  &c.  Towne  died  July, 
1793.  He  did  not  possess  the  faculty  of  gaining  and  retaining 
property,  though  not  deficient  in  talents.  That  he  lacked  sta 
bility,  if  not  moral  principle,  seems  manifest. 
55 


650  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

TOWNSEND,  BENJAMIN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  an  ensign 
in  the  New  York  Volunteers. 

TOWNSEND,  CHAUNCEY.  Of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina. 
Lost  his  property  by  confiscation  in  1779. 

TOWNSEND,  GREGORY.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775.  Was  proscribed  and  ban* 
ished  in  1778.  A  person  of  this  name  died  at  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1798. 

TOWNSEND,  JOB.  Residence  unknown.  A  grantee  of  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

TOWNSEND,  JOHN.  A  magistrate.  He  lived  at  Oyster  Bay, 
New  York.  In  1779  a  party  of  Rebels  seized  him  in  his 
house,  and  carried  him  prisoner  to  Connecticut. 

TOWNSEND,  LEVIN.  Residence  unknown.  A  lieutenant  in 
the  Maryland  Loyalists. 

TOWNSEND,  RICHARD.  A  store-keeper,  at  North  Hempstead, 
New  York.  A  distinguished  Loyalist.  In  1782  a  party  of 
Whigs  carried  him  prisoner  to  Connecticut,  but  subsequently 
released  him  on  parole. 

TOWNSEND,  STEPHEN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

TOWNSEND.  Twenty-two,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York, 
acknowledged  allegiance  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  Wil 
liam  Howe  in  a  Representation  and  Petition,  October,  1776. 
To  wit :  Micajah,  Timothy,  W.,  Henry  junior,  Richard,  John, 
Richard  junior,  Richard,  Absalom,  Robert,  Henry,  Samuel, 
Henry,  John  junior,  James  junior,  Hewlett,  John,  Prior,  Sam 
uel,  George  junior,  W.,  and  Jotham.  Nathaniel  and  Nicholas 
Townsend,  of  the  same  County,  signed  a  Declaration  against 
the  Whigs  in  1775. 

TOWERS,  WILLIAM.  Died  at  Tower  Hill,  St.  David,  Province 
of  New  Brunswick,  January,  1835.  He  was  the  principal 
workman  at  the  erection  of  the  fort  at  Bagaduce,  (now  Cas- 
tine,  Maine,)  which  was  built  by  the  British  forces,  and  main 
tained  to  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  After  the  evacuation  of 
that  post,  he  removed  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  and 
built  there,  in  1783,  the  first  house.  Thence  he  removed  to 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  651 

St.  David,  an  entire  wilderness,  and  settled  about  seven  miles 
from  the  head  of  Oak  Bay,  on  a  fine  hard- wood  ridge,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Tower  Hill.  He  was  the  father  of  a 
numerous  family,  and  was  possessed  of  a  strong  constitution. 
His  age  was  eighty-four  years. 

TRAIL,  ROBERT,  Esquire.  He  was  Comptroller  of  the  Cus 
toms,  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  with  a  salary  of  about 
£180  sterling  per  annum.  He  was  included  in  the  New  Hamp 
shire  proscription  act  of  1778.  His  wife  was  a  near  relative 
of  William  Whipple,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence.  He  had  three  children,  Robert  and  William,  who  set 
tled  in  Europe ;  and  Mary,  who  married  Kieth  Spence,  Esquire, 
of  Portsmouth,  and  whose  son,  Robert  Trail  Spence,  was  a 
captain  in  the  United  States  Navy. 

TRAPHAGER,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  A  grantee  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick ;  he  died  there  in  1817,  aged  seventy-four. 

TRAVERS,  FRANCIS.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1821,  aged  sixty-eight. 

TRAVIES,  JEREMIAH.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester. 

TRECARTIN,  MARTIN.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York.  Went 
to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife,  in  the  ship  Union, 
in  the  spring  of  1783,  and  was  a  grantee. 

TRUP,  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of  a  Decla 
ration  of  loyalty  in  1775. 

TROUTBECK,  REVEREND  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  Assistant  rector 
of  King's  Chapel  from  1755  to  1775.  Doctor  Caner  was  the 
rector.  The  Revolution  drove  both  from  their  people.  Mr. 
Troutbeck  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage,  and  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  there,  near  the  close 
of  the  war ;  he  was  a  Loyalist  Addresser  of  the  king  as  late 
as  July,  1779. 

TROWBRIDGE,  EDMUND.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1728.  At  the  Revolutionary  era  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  was  elected  to  the  Council  several  times  prior  to 
1776,  but  was  left  out  that  year  with  other  government-men, 


652 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


namely,  Hutchinson,  and  Andrew  and  Peter  Oliver;  and 
the  Governor,  in  the  exercise  of  his  prerogative,  disallowed 
the  choice  of  several  Whigs.  Judge  Trowbridge  died  in  1793. 

TRUIR,  HUGH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Addresser 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

TRUITT,  SOLOMON,  Junior.  Of  Sussex  County,  Delaware.  In 
1778  he  was  required  by  law,  to  surrender  himself  within  a 
specified  time,  or  lose  his  estate. 

TRYON,  HONORABLE  WILLIAM.  He  was  educated  to  the  pro 
fession  of  arms,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  British  service. 
Appointed  Lieutenant  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  the  death 
of  Governor  Dobbs  left  him  at  the  head  of  the  government  of 
that  Colony  in  1765  ;  and  he  continued  to  administer  its  af 
fairs  until  July,  1771,  when  he  was  transferred  to  New  York. 
During  the  whole  period  of  his  administration  in  North  Caro 
lina,  the  public  mind  was  successively  agitated  by  the  Stamp 
Act,  and  a  civil  war,  known  in  the  annals  of  the  Colony  as 
the  Regulation,  or  the  rebellion  of  a  party  who  assumed  the 
name  of  Regulators.  The  oppressive  taxes  growing  out  of  the 
French  war,  and  the  knavery  of  the  officers  of  the  law,  were 
the  subjects  of  their  complaints,  and  the  alleged  causes  of  their 
taking  up  arms. 

Governor  Tryon's  wife  —  a  Miss  Wake  —  and  her  sister, 
Miss  Esther  Wake,  were  lovely  and  accomplished  women,  and 
tradition  relates,  that  they  exercised  much  influence  in  public 
affairs.  For  the  first  two  years  of  his  administration  his  head 
quarters  were  on  the  Cape  Fear  River ;  but  he  succeeded, 
through  the  blandishments  of  Lady  Tryon  and  her  sister,  in 
obtaining  an  appropriation  for  a  splendid  palace,  though  the 
Colony  was  poor,  and  great  opposition  was  made  to  the  meas 
ure.  The  sum  of  £5,000  was  first  set  apart  for  the  purpose ; 
but  £10,000  more  were  found  necessary  to  complete  the  edi 
fice  ;  and  as  Tryon's  dinners  were  princely,  and  the  fascina 
tion  of  the  ladies  of  his  family  were  irresistible,  the  Assembly 
were  prevailed  upon,  after  a  great  deal  of  management,  to 
make  a  second,  and  the  required  grant.  As  the  controversy 
progressed,  the  Governor's  unpopularity  increased ;  and,  to 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  653 

save  his  waning  authority,  he  mingled  with  the  common  peo 
ple,  and  prepared  for  them  feasts  and  routs.  On  one  occasion, 
according  to  the  accounts  of  the  day,  he  barbecued  an  ox,  and 
placed  it  on  the  table  as  one  dish;  but  the  people,  on  its  being 
announced  that  the  repast  was  ready,  rushed  in  a  mass  to  the 
table,  upset  the  barrels  of  liquors  which  had  been  provided, 
and  threw  the  ox  into  the  river.  Tryon,  mortified  and  de 
jected,  retired  from  the  crowd  to  his  house.  The  day  was 
passed  in  riot  and  tumult.  Quarrels  with  the  Assembly  on 
various  subjects  followed  from  time  to  time;  and  in  1771,  as 
before  remarked,  Tryon  was  transferred  to  the  government  of 
New  York,  and  was  succeeded  in  that  State  by  General  Rob 
inson  in  1780. 

The  spirit  of  the  man,  while  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  New 
York,  may  be  fully  illustrated  by  a  single  circumstance.  "  I 
should,"  said  he  in  1777,  "  were  I  in  more  authority,  burn 
every  committee-man's  house  within  my  reach,  as  I  deem  those 
agents  the  wicked  instruments  of  the  continued  calamities  of 
this  country ;  and  in  order  sooner  to  purge  the  country  of 
them,  I  am  willing  to  give  twenty-five  silver  dollars  for  every 
acting  committee-man  who  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  King's 
troops." 

It  is  claimed  by  the  friends  of  Governor  Tryon,  that  he  was 
"  a  gentleman  of  rank  and  honor,  and  of  undaunted  courage." 
His  political  course  in  North  Carolina  gives  evidence  of  con 
siderable  talents;  and  his  military  operations  in  New  York 
evince  much  ability  and  skill.  But  that  he  showed  himself,  in 
either  State,  to  be  a  man  of  honor,  or  that  his  civil  or  mili 
tary  life  in  America  entitles  his  memory  to  respect,  is  a  matter 
of  great  doubt,  I  imagine,  even  with  the  most  liberal  and  char 
itable  of  those,  who  are  familiar  with  his  public  conduct. 
When  Fairfield  was  burned,  Mrs.  Burr,  a  lady  of  great  dig 
nity  of  character,  and  possessed  of  most  of  the  qualities  which 
give  distinction  to  her  sex,  resolved  to  remain  in  her  dwelling, 
and,  if  possible,  save  it  from  the  flames.  She  made  personal 
application  to  Tryon  to  spare  it ;  but  he  answered  her  not  only 
uncivilly,  but  rudely,  brutally,  and  with  vulgarity ;  and  when 
55* 


654  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

a  soldier  attempted  to  rob  her  of  her  watch,  Tryon  refused  to 
protect  her.  At  the  burning  of  Norwalk  his  conduct  was 
equally  exceptionable ;  since  he  seated  himself  in  a  chair  on 
the  top  of  Grammon's  Hill,  and  calmly  enjoyed  the  scene. 
Governor  Tryon' s  property,  both  in  North  Carolina  and  New 
York,  was  confiscated. 

TUCKER,  SOLOMON.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  Arrived  at 
St  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  his  wife  and  four  children,  in 
the  ship  Union,  in  the  spring  of  1783. 

TUCKER,  .  A  physician,  of  Wilmington,  North  Caro 
lina.  His  property  was  confiscated  in  1779.  When  Mr. 
Q,uincy,  of  Massachusetts,  was  on  his  southern  tour  in  1773, 
he  dined,  March  29th,  as  he  recorded  in  his  journal,  "  at  Doctor 
Thomas  Cobham's  in  company  with  Harnett,  Hooper,  Burg- 
win,  Doctor  Tucker,"  &c.  Hooper  and  Harnett  were  eminent 
Whigs,  and  the  former  became  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Doctor  Tucker,  if  at  that  time  inclined  to  the 
popular  side,  adhered  to  the  crown  subsequently,  and  to  his 
ruin. 

TUFTS,  SIMON.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1767,  and  became  a  merchant.  In  1775  he  was 
charged  by  the  Boston  Committee  of  Inspection,  with  selling 
tea,  and  was  examined.  He  made  a  statement  of  the  facts  of 
the  case  under  oath,  which  was  published  by  the  Committee. 
In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  died  in  1801. 

TUPPER,  ELDAD.  Laborer,  of  Dartmouth,  Massachusetts. 
Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

TUPPER,  PRINCE.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1778,  he  was  placed  in  confinement  for  his  political 
delinquency. 

TURILL,  JOSEPH.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774.  In  1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

TURNBULL,  GEORGE.  In  1782  he  was  lieutenant-colonel 
commandant  of  the  Third  American  Regiment,  or  New  York 
Volunteers. 

TURNER,  DAVID.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  commission 
of  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  Estate  con 
fiscated. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  655 

TURNER,  ROBERT.  Of  Guilford,  North  Carolina.  His  pro 
perty  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

TURNER,  WILLIAM.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
a  loyal  Declaration  in  1775. 

TURNEY,  DAVID.  Of  Reading,  Connecticut.  A  member  of 
the  Association. 

TURNEY,  THOMAS.  Died  at  Burton,  County  of  Sunbury, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1840,  aged  eighty-seven,  leaving  thirteen 
children. 

TYNG,  WILLIAM.  Sheriff  of  Cumberland  County,  Maine. 
His  ancestor  came  to  New  England  about  the  year  1630.  His 
grandfather,  the  Honorable  Edward  Tyng,  was  a  gentleman 
of  distinction,  and  was  appointed  Governor  of  Annapolis, 
Nova  Scotia,  but  died  in  France.  His  father  was  the  gallant 
Commodore  Tyng,  who  performed  valuable  service  as  a  naval 
officer  in  the  war  between  England  and  France  in  1745 ;  he 
was  the  senior  commander  of  the  colonial  fleet  sent  against 
Louisburg  in  that  year,  and  Sir  Peter  Warren,  who  com 
manded  the  ships  of  the  crown  in  the  same  expedition,  offered 
him  the  rank  of  post-captain,  which  he  declined  on  account  of 
his  declining  years;  he  died  at  Boston  in  1775,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two. 

William,  the  subject  of  this  article,  was  born  in  Boston, 
August  17,  1737,  and  passed  most  of  his  youthful  days  in  his 
native  town.  His  early  life  was  distinguished  for  correct 
morals,  dignity  of  deportment,  and  an  ardent  desire  to  assist 
the  unfortunate.  In  1767  he  \vas  appointed  sheriff  of  the 
County  of  Cumberland,  and  removed  to  Portland.  Two  years 
after,  he  married  Elisabeth  Ross,  daughter  of  Alexander  Ross, 
Esquire.  He  represented  Falmouth  in  the  General  Court  in 
the  years  1772  and  1773;  and  was  instructed  by  the  town  as 
follows  :  — 

"Sir: — Whereas,  we  are  sensible  there  is  reason  to  com 
plain  of  infringements  on  the  liberties  of  the  people  of  this 
province,  and  as  you  are  a  representative  for  this  town,  we 
would  offer  a  few  things  for  your  consideration  on  transacting 
the  very  important  business  that  may  lay  before  the  General 


656  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Court  at  the  next  session.  We  are  not  about  to  enumerate  any 
grievances  particularly,  as  we  doubt  not  the  wisdom  of  the 
General  Court  is  amply  sufficient  to  investigate,  not  only  every 
grievance,  but  every  inconvenience  the  province  at  present 
labors  under;  all  we  mean  is,  to  suggest  some  method  whereby 
all  grievances  may  be  redressed.  And  considering  the  singular 
abilities  and  good  disposition  of  the  present  governor,  together 
with  his  family,  being  embarked  on  the  same  bottom  with 
ourselves,  we  know  of  no  expedient  more  effectual  than  for 
the  members  of  the  General  Court,  by  a  rational  and  liberal 
behavior,  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  his  Excellency.  The 
particular  mode  of  doing  this,  we  must  leave  to  their  wisdom 
and  prudence,  which  on  this  important  occasion  they  will  un 
doubtedly  exert,  only  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  could  his  Ex 
cellency  be  prevailed  upon  to  join  the  other  branches  of  the 
legislature  in  supplicating  the  throne  for  redress  of  any  of  our 
grievances,  it  appears  to  us  the  most  probable  way  of  obtain 
ing  his  Majesty's  royal  attention  and  relief." 

His  conduct  was  generally  conciliatory  to  those  whose  polit 
ical  tendencies  he  could  not  respect.  There  were  several  per 
sonal  quarrels  between  the  citizens  of  Fal mouth  in  conse 
quence  of  their  political  divisions ;  and  Colonel  Tyng  was 
involved  in  one  of  them,  and  with  a  friend.  He  and  General 
Preble  met  in  King  street,  when  some  conversation  took  place 
about  an  expected  mob,  in  which  he  called  the  General  an  old 
fool,  and  said,  that  "  were  he  not  an  old  man  he  would  chas 
tise  him;"  whereupon  Preble  "threatened  to  cane  or  knock 
him  down,  if  he  should  repeat  the  words."  Tyng  drew  his 
sword,  and  in  turn  threatened  to  run  the  General  through  ; 
but  the  latter  collared  and  shook  him.  They,  however,  parted 
on  good  terms,  as  the  Colonel  asked  Preble's  pardon.  When, 
in  September,  1774,  he  appeared  before  the  County  Conven 
tion  to  answer  certain  questions  propounded  by  the  Whigs,  he 
seems  to  have  given  entire  satisfaction  in  affixing  his  name  to 
a  Declaration  as  follows  :  — 

"  Whereas  great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  County 
are  now  assembled  near  my  house,  in  consequence  of  the  false 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  657 

representation  of  some  evil-minded  persons,  who  have  reported 
that  I  have  endeavored  all  in  my  power  to  enforce  the  late 
acts  of  Parliament  relating  to  this  province  ;  I  do  hereby  sol 
emnly  declare,  that  I  have  not  in  any  way  whatever  acted,  or 
endeavored  to  act,  in  conformity  to  said  acts  of  Parliament. 
And  in  compliance  with  the  commands  of  the  inhabitants  so 
assembled,  and  by  the  advice  of  a  committee  from  the  several 
towns  in  this  County  now  assembled  in  Congress,  I  further  de 
clare  I  will  not,  as  Sheriff  of  said  County,  or  otherwise,  act  in 
conformity  to,  or  by  virtue  of,  said  acts,  unless  by  the  general 
consent  of  said  County.  I  further  declare,  I  have  not  received 
any  commission  inconsistent  with  the  charter  of  this  province, 
nor  any  commission  whatever,  since  the  first  day  of  July 
last."* 

Soon  after  the  affair  at  Lexington,  he  left  Maine,  and  went 
to  Halifax.  During  the  troubles  with  Mo  watt,  which  termi 
nated  in  the  burning  of  Falmouth,  the  country  people  who  as 
sembled  there  under  Thompson,  took  from  his  house  a  silver 
cup  and  tankard,  and  his  gold-laced  hat.  But  Congress  or 
dered  the  silver  plate  to  be  restored,  and  it  was  delivered  to 
Mrs.  Tyng's  mother.  After  the  royal  troops  entered  the  city 
of  New  York,  he  repaired  thither.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed 
and  banished  under  the  act  of  Massachusetts.  While  in  New 
York,  Edward  Preble,  a  midshipman  in  the  service  of  Massa 
chusetts,  who  was  afterwards  the  distinguished  Commodore 
Preble  of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  was  carried  there  a 
prisoner  of  war.  He  was  the  son  of  General  Preble,  with 
whom  Colonel  Tyng  had  the  quarrel  related  above ;  but  the 
young  naval  officer,  who  was  afflicted  with  a  dangerous  sick 
ness,  was  restored  to  his  family  through  Tyng's  intercession, 
after  receiving  from  him  every  attention  and  kindness  that  his 
situation  required.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  Colonel  Tyng 
retired  to  the  river  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  one  of  the 
agents  of  the  British  government  for  the  settlement  of  the  Loy 
alists  who  emigrated  to  that  Colony.  He  was  also  appointed 

*  He  was  commissioned  a  colonel  by  Gage,  in  1774. 


658  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Chief  Justice  of  a  Court  of  Judicature,  and  was  respected  for 
his  dignity  and  humanity  as  a  Judge.  Six  lots  in  the  city  of 
St.  John  were  granted  him  by  the  crown.  He  resided  there  in 
1784;  but  was  at  Georgetown  in  1785.  In  1793  he  returned 
to  the  United  States,  and  settled  at  Gorham,  Maine,  where  he 
remained  during  life.  He  was  devotedly  attached  to  agricul 
tural  pursuits,  and  to  the  enjoyments  of  social  intercourse.  His 
house  was  the  seat  of  hospitality,  and  of  instructive  and  de 
lightful  conversation ;  and  the  sorrowing,  care-worn,  and 
unfortunate,  were  ever  relieved.  He  died  December  10,  1807, 
of  apoplexy.  St.  Paul's  Church,  of  the  Episcopal  commun 
ion,  Portland,  was  erected  under  his  immediate  patronage, 
and  there  his  remains  were  carried  for  the  performance  of 
the  funeral  service,  attended  by  his  brethren  of  the  Masonic 
Lodge,  clad  in  full  mourning.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was 
most  tenderly  devoted,  bore  him  no  children.  Denied  poster 
ity,  he  regarded  with  the  most  affectionate  tenderness  those 
whom  he  adopted,  to  supply  the  place  of  natural  offspring. 
He  was  a  Christian ;  and  secret  communion  with  his  God 
was  his  daily  practice.  In  the  outward  observances  of  his  pro 
fession,  as  a  member  of  the  church,  he  was  blameless.  William 
Tyng,  in  a  word,  was  a  true  man  in  every  relation  of  life ; 
and  his  memory  is  to  be  cherished  by  all  who  love  such, 
whatever  their  sectarian  or  political  differences  or  preferences. 
Madam  Tyng,  as  his  relict  was  denominated,  continued  at 
Gorham,  and  closed  her  life  there  towards  the  end  of  the  year 
1831. 

TYRELL,  WILLIAM.  Warehouse-keeper  of  the  Superinten 
dent  Department,  established  by  Sir  William  Howe  at  New 
York,  in  1777. 

UNDERBILL.  Of  New  York.  Several  of  this  name  were  Pro 
testers  against  Whig  Congresses  and  Committees,  at  White 
Plains,  April,  1775.  N.  Underbill,  Esquire,  who  signed  as 
mayor,  John  Underbill,  Lancaster,  Israel,  Bartholomew,  and 
Benjamin.  In  the  Protest,  the  signers  pledged  life  and  prop 
erty  to  support  the  king  and  existing  institutions.  These 
Underbills  were  of  Westchester  County. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  659 

UNDERBILL.  Eight  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Isaac,  Peter,  Caleb,  Thomas,  Daniel,  Baruch,  Amos,  and 
George. 

UNDERBILL,  WILLIAM.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783. 

UNDERWOOD,  JOBN.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  joined  the  enemy 
during  the  war,  but  returning  to  that  State,  was  required  to 
quit  it,  by  act  of  May,  1783.  He  went  to  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  the  same  year,  in  the  ship  Union. 

UNIACKE,  BARTHOLOMEW.  Captain  lieutenant  of  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers. 

UPBAM,  JABEZ.  Of  Massachusetts.  Brother  of  Joshua  Up- 
ham.  He  died  at  Hampton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1822. 
Bethiah,  his  widow,  died  at  the  same  place  in  1834,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one. 

UPBAM,  JOSBUA.  Of  Brookfield,  Massachusetts.  Graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1763.  In  1775  he  addressed  to  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  of  Brookfield  an  able  and  in 
teresting  letter  relative  to  his  political  sentiments,  which  was 
unanimously  voted  to  be  satisfactory.  Subsequently,  he  in 
curred  the  displeasure  of  the  Whigs,  and  became  a  refugee ; 
and  was  proscribed  and  banished.  Entering  the  British  army, 
he  attained  the  rank  of  colonel  of  dragoons.  Settling  in  New 
Brunswick  after  the  war,  he  was  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  a  member  of  the  Council.  Going  to  England  on 
public  duty  in  1807,  he  died  there  the  year  following.  Of  the 
Loyalists  who  went  to  New  Brunswick,  few  performed  greater 
service  to  the  Colony;  of  few  is  the  memory  more  deeply 
cherished.  Judge  Upham  was  connected  by  marriage,  or 
by  blood,  with  many  of  the  present  distinguished  families 
and  official  characters  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia. 
His  second  son,  Joshua  N.,  died  in  Massachusetts  in  1805,  .at 
the  age  of  thirty.  His  eldest  daughter,  Elisabeth,  died  unmar 
ried  at  Federicton,  in  the  spring  of  1844,  in  the  seventy-fourth 
year  of  her  age ;  and  his  other  daughter,  Frances  Chandler, 
wife  of  Honorable  John  W.  Weldon,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 


660  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Assembly,  died  at  Richebucto,  May  19,  of  that  year,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine.  His  son,  Reverend  Charles  Wentworth 
Upham,  late  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  at  Salem,  Massa 
chusetts,  is  a  gentleman  of  fine  attainments,  and  has  en 
riched  the  literature  of  his  country  with  several  valuable 
and  able  productions ;  for  his  Life  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  he 
deserves  the  thanks  of  every  lover  of  civil  right,  and  of 
religious  truth. 

USTICK,  WILLIAM  and  HENRY.  Traders,  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  In  April,  1775,  at  a  meeting  at  the  Liberty  Pole,  these 
persons  were  denounced  as  inveterate  foes  to  American  free 
dom  —  one  voice  only  dissenting  —  on  a  charge  of  purchasing 
spades  and  shovels,  and  of  manufacturing  bill-hooks  and 
pick-axes  for  the  use  of  the  royal  army  at  Boston. 

VALANCEY,  CHARLES.  A  captain  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment. 

VALENTINE.  Caleb,  Jacob,  Jonah,  Obadiah,  David,  Robert, 
Philip,  Thomas,  and  William,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York, 
acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  William  signed  a 
Declaration  the  year  before,  as  did  Jeremiah  Valentine,  of  the 
same  County. 

VALENTINE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Camden,  South  Carolina.  Held  an 
office  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  His 
property  was  confiscated. 

VALENTINE,  WILLIAM.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished, 
and  his  property  was  confiscated  in  1782. 

VAN  ALLEN,  HENRY.  An  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

VAN  ALLEN,  WILLIAM.  A  captain  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

VANAMEER,  ABRAHAM.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

VANAUSDAL,  NICHOLAS.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed  a 
Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs,  January, 
1775.  Abraham  and  Isaac  Vanausdal,  were  also  signers. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  601 

VAN  BRUNT,  JOOST.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed  a 
Declaration  in  1775. 

VAN  BUSKIRK,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  Jersey.  Entered  the  mili 
tary  service  of  the  king,  and  in  1782  was  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  Third  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  was  with 
Arnold  in  his  expedition  to  New  London,  and  the  traitor,  in 
his  official  account  of  his  honorable  deeds  there,  speaks  of  the 
Volunteers,  and  of  the  exertions  of  Colonel  Van  Buskirk.  He 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  at  the  close  of  the  contest,  and  in  1784 
was  mayor  of  Shelburne.  He  received  half-pay.  He  died  in 
Nova  Scotia. 

VAN  BUSKIRK,  ABRAHAM.  Of  New  Jersey.  A  captain  in  the 
King's  Orange  Rangers.  He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  re 
ceived  half-pay. 

VAN  BUSKIRK,  GARRAT.  Was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  His 
connexion  with  the  Revolutionary  troubles  in  that  section, 
compelled  him  to  leave  the  country  at  the  close  of  the  contest, 
and  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  but  subsequently 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia.  He  died  in  Aylesford  in  1843,  aged 
eighty-seven  years. 

VAN  BUSKIRK,  JACOB.  Of  New  Jersey.  Entered  the  military 
service  of  the  king,  and  in  1782  was  a  captain  in  the  Third 
Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  After  the  war  he  settled 
in  Nova  Scotia,  arid  received  half-pay. 

VAN  BUSKIRK,  JOHN.  Of  New  Jersey.  A  lieutenant  in  the 
Third  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

VAN  CORTLANDT,  PHILIP.  Of  New  York.  In  1775  he  was 
elected  a  deputy  from  Westchester  County,  to  meet  delegates 
from  other  counties  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress.  But  he  entered  the  military  service  of  the  king, 
and  in  1782  was  major  of  the  Third  Battalion  of  New  Jersey 
Volunteers.  At  the  peace  he  went  to  Nova  Scotia.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  Sir  Edward  Buller  of  the  royal  navy; 
another  married  Captain  Evans  of  the  British  army. 

VAN  CORTLANDT,  PHILIP,  Junior.  Of  New  York.  In  1782  he 
was  an  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volun 
teers* 

56 


662  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

VAN  DAM,  ANTHONY.  Of  New  York.  In  1775  he  took  an 
active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  proceedings ;  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  and  of  the 
Committee  for  Instituting  a  Military  Night  Watch.  He  was 
also  officially  employed  in  matters  connected  with  forwarding 
stores  to  Albany.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  in  London 
in  1807,  aged  seventy-seven. 

VAN  DEUSEN,  JAMES.  Was  at  first  a  Whig  and  enlisted  in 
the  army,  but  deserted,  and  joined  the  royal  forces.  He  was 
taken  by  his  former  friends,  tried,  convicted,  and  put  to  death, 
in  1780. 

VAN  DUMONT,  WILLIAM.  A  lieutenant  in  the  First  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

VAN  DYNE,  DOMINICUS  and  ARUS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance  in  1776.  In  1779,  William, 
Meneus,  Dow,  and  Ort  Van  Dyne,  of  that  County,  were  Ad 
dressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling. 

VAN  HORNE,  GABRIEL.  Died  at  Fredericton,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1815,  aged  sixty-seven ;  and  his  widow,  Mary,  died  at  the 
same  place  the  same  year. 

VAN  HORN,  WILLIAM.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  South 
Carolina  Royalists. 

VAN  NOORSTRANT.  Eight  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
John,  Abraham,  Cornelius,  John,  Jacob,  Martin,  Albert,  and 
John. 

VAN  NORSTRANDT,  AARON.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed 
a  Declaration  in  1775. 

VAN  NOSTRANDT.  Four  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit : 
Daniel  junior,  John,  Anthony,  and  Aaron. 

VAN  ORDEN,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

VANPELT,  SARAH.  She  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
at  the  peace,  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  that  city. 

VANPELT,  TEUNIS.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  663 

VAN  SHAACK,  PETER,  Esquire.  Of  Kinderhook,  New  York.  An 
exile  to  England,  but  returned  to  New  York  after  the  war,  prac 
tised  law,  and  was  eminent  in  the  profession.  He  seems  to 
have  been  a  most  estimable  man,  and  to  have  enjoyed  the  entire 
confidence  and  friendship  of  John  Jay,  Egbert  Benson,  Richard 
Harrison,  Gouverneur  Morris,  George  Clinton,  and  other  Whigs, 
without  interruption  and  during  life.  In  1778  the  state  of 
Mrs.  Van  Shaack's  health  became  alarming,  and  it  was  desira 
ble  that  she  should  visit  the  city  of  New  York,  the  place  of 
her  nativity.  Her  physicians  were  of  the  opinion,  that,  in  the 
peculiar  state  of  her  mind,  her  native  air  and  proximity  to  the 
sea  would  be  of  more  benefit  than  medicine.  Her  husband 
applied  to  the  Governor  of  New  York  for  leave  to  carry  her 
there.  The  city  was  in  possession  of  the  British,  and  though 
that  lady  herself,  as  well  as  her  partner,  were  objects  of  univer 
sal  love  and  esteem,  the  request  of  the  dying  woman  was  refused. 
Such  was  the  stern  decree  of  war,  of  civil  war.  Again,  Mr. 
Van  Shaack  applied  for  liberty  to  take  his  sick  wife  within  the 
British  lines,  and  was  again  refused.  She  was  wasting  away 
under  a  consumption.  Of  the  medical  staff  of  Burgoyne's 
army  then  prisoners,  was  a  Doctor  Hayes,  of  great  reputed 
skill,  and  Lafayette  was  asked  to  allow  the  British  surgeon 
to  visit  her,  but  the  Committee  of  Safety  interfered,  and  the 
humane  mission  was  forbidden.  She  soon  died.  In  her  last 
moments,  she  told  her  heart-broken  husband,  that  she  forgave 
him  who  had  prevented  her  from  going  to  New  York ;  and 
when  he  desired  to  know  whether  she  would  not  also  forgive 
those  who  had  prevented  Doctor  Hayes  from  coming  to  her, 
she  answered,  yes,  she  forgave  them,  and  every  body. 

Of  all  the  circumstances  of  her  sad  fate,  Mr.  Van  Shaack 
wrote  a  most  touching  account.  He  was  sorely  stricken. 
Within  eight  years  he  had  lost  six  children,  he  had  buried  his 
father,  had  been  deprived  of  the  use  of  one  eye,  and  was 
harassed  with  the  fear  of  total  blindness.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances,  the  commotions  of  the  time  had  broken  up  a  flour 
ishing  business,  and  he  was  now  an  outlaw  about  to  depart 
from  his  native  land.  "  Torn  from  the  nearest  and  dearest  of 


664  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

all  human  connexions,"  are  his  own  words,  "by  the  visitation 
of  Almighty  God,  and  by  means  of  the  public  troubles  of  my 
country,  I  am  now  going  into  the  wide  world,  without  friends, 
without  fortune,  with  the  remembrance  of  past  happiness,  and 
the  future  prospect  of  future  adversity." 

The  order  for  his  banishment  bore  the  signature  of  Leonard 
Gansevoort,  Junior,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners, 
who  had  been  his  student  at  law.  "  Leonard,"  said  he,  "  you 
have  signed  my  death  warrant,  but  I  appreciate  your  mo 
tives."  In  other  words,  "Leonard,  I  know  your  worth,  you 
have  taken  one  side  of  the  controversy,  and  I  the  other.  You 
decided  from  principle,  and  so  did  I."  Of  overt  acts  against 
his  country,  Van  Shaack  had  committed  none,  his  sole  offences 
were  his  opinions.  That  he  was  a  pure  and  noble  man,  there 
is  sufficient  proof.  On  his  return  from  England,  Mr.  Jay  went 
on  board  of  the  ship,  took  him  to  the  Governor's,  the  Chief 
Justice's,  &c.,  and  he  received  a  hearty  welcome  from  all ;  and 
it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  friends  who  thus  cordially 
greeted  him,  were  not  of  the  moderate  Whigs  alone,  but  of 
those  styled  violent  Whigs,  of  whom  George  Clinton  was 
regarded  the  head.  Mr.  Van  Shaack  died  in  1832,  aged 
eighty-five,  and  was  buried  at  Kinderhook,  New  York.  His 
Life,  by  his  son,  which  is  mainly  composed  of  his  correspon 
dence,  is  an  interesting  and  instructive  work. 

VANDYKE, .  He  belonged,  probably,  to  New  Jersey; 

but  possibly  to  Pennsylvania.  In  1777,  or  1778,  he  was  com 
missioned  to  raise  a  corps  of  Loyalists,  and  in  May  of  the  lat 
ter  year  he  had  embodied  a  force  consisting  of  three  troops  of 
light  dragoons,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  foot  soldiers  : 
total  number,  three  hundred  and  six. 

VAN  WART,  JACOB.  Of  New  York.  Emigrated  to  New 
Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the  war,  where  he  settled.  He  died 
in  King's  County  in  1838,  aged  seventy-eight.  He  was  accom 
panied  by  his  brothers,  William  and  Isaac.  Isaac  died  some 
years  ago,  but  William  is  still  living  in  New  Brunswick. 
These  Van  Warts,  and  Isaac  Van  Wart,  who  was  one  of  the 
captors  of  Andre,  were  kinsmen. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  665 

VAN  WICKTEN,  GAR.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed  a 
Declaration  in  1775.  Evart  Van  Wickten,  also  signed  a 
Declaration. 

VAN  WINKLE,  SIMEON.  Saddler,  of  Duck  Creek,  Delaware. 
In  1778  he  was  proscribed. 

VAN  WYCK,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  In  1776  he  acknowl 
edged  allegiance  to  Lord  Richard  and  Sir  William  Howe.  In 
1780  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Governor  Robinson ;  in  1781 
he  was  in  the  king's  service,  as  a  captain  in  the  Loyal  Queen's 
County  Militia. 

VARDILL,  JOHN.  He  was  educated  at  King's  College,  New 
York,  for  the  ministry.  Early  in  1774  he  embarked  at  that 
city  for  England,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  orders.  After  his 
departure,  and  on  the  death  of  Doctor  Ogilvie,  he  was  appoint 
ed  to  the  rectorship  in  New  York,  but  did  not  accept  it,  pre 
ferring  to  remain  in  England.  It  is  supposed  that  he  received 
some  employment  from  the  government.  He  was  the  author 
of  some  poetical  satires  on  the  Whigs ;  and  Trumbull,  in  his 
McFingal,  says ;  — 

"  In  Vardill,  that  poetic  zealot, 
I  view  a  lawn  bedizen'd  Prelate  ; 
While  mitres  fall,  as  't  is  their  duty, 
On  heads  of  Chandler,  and  Auchmuty." 

VASSAL,  JOHN.  Of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1757.  In  1774  he  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson.  Early  in  1775  he  was  driven  from 
his  seat  by  mobs,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Boston.  The 
Committee  of  Safety,  June  24,  of  the  last  mentioned  year, 
"  Ordered,  That  the  commanding  officer  who  has  the  charge 
of  the  hay  on  John  Vassal,  Esquire's  estate,  be  directed  to 
supply  Mr.  Seth  Brown,  who  has  the  care  of  the  Colony  horses, 
with  as  much  hay  as  they  may  need  for  their  consumption." 
And  furthermore,  and  on  the  same  day,  "  Ordered,  That  Mr. 
Brown,  the  keeper  of  the  Colony  horses,  do  not  admit  any  horses 
into  the  stables  of  John  Vassal,  Esquire,  but  such  as  are  the 
property  of  this  Colony."  On  the  6th  of  July,  the  Committee 
56* 


666  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

0 

voted,  "That  Joseph  and  Parsons  Smith  be  allowed  to  cut, 
each,  one  ton  of  English  hay  and  one  ton  of  black-grass,  on 
the  estate  of  John  Vassal,  Esquire,  in  Cambridge,  they  to  be 
accountable  therefor ;  and  that  Mr.  David  Sanger  be  directed 
accordingly."  Similar  orders  and  votes  passed  this  body  rela 
tive  to  the  estates  of  other  Loyalists,  who  had  been  driven 
from  their  homes  ;  and  the  subject  came  up  in  the  Provincial 
Congress  the  same  year.  On  the  llth  of  July,  Congress 
"Resolved,  that  the  persons  employed  in  cutting  the  grass  on 
.the  land  of  the  Refugees,  be  allowed  half  a  pint  of  rum  each 
per  day."  These  incidents,  though  slight  in  themselves, 
throw  light  on  the  transactions  of  the  day. 

Mr.  Vassal's  mansion-house  at  Cambridge  became  the  head 
quarters  of  Washington;  and  is  now  occupied  by  Professor 
Longfellow,  of  Harvard  University.  Mr.  Vassal,  with  his 
family,  went  to  England.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished",  and  his  estate  confiscated.  He  died  in  England  in 
1797,  aged  sixty.  His  widow  survived  until  1807.  His  son 
Spencer  was  an  officer  in  the  British  army,  and  when  he  fell 
before  Monte  Video,  in  1806,  was  a  lieutenant-colonel.  The 
Vassal  family  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  in 
Massachusetts.  The  name  of  Vassal  is  attached  to  the  title  of 
Lord  Holland,  and  the  late  Lady  Holland  was  of  this  lineage, 
and  a  descendant  of  the  emigrant  to  America.  This  gentle 
man,  William  Vassal,  Esquire,  who  possessed  a  fortune,  came 
early  to  New  England,  and  was  one  of  the  Assistants  of  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts  proper.  But  as  he  remained  an 
Episcopalian,  he  was  viewed  with  jealousy  ;  and  removing  to 
Scituate,  in  the  Colony  of  Plymouth,  he  became  proprietor  of 
a  large  estate,  which  bore  the  name  of  West  Newland.  After 
the  conquest  of  Jamaica,  he  obtained  an  extensive  grant  there. 
He  died  at  Barbadoes  in  1655,  leaving  several  sons  and  daugh 
ters.  One  daughter  married  Resolved  White,  a  brother  of  the 
first  person  born  in  New  England  of  English  parents ;  a 
second  married  James  Adams,  of  Virginia ;  and  a  third  was 
the  wife  of  Nicholas  Ware,  of  the  same  Colony.  Most  of  his 
descendants  in  Massachusetts  at  the  Revolution  were  Loyal- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  667 

ists.  A  part  or  the  whole  of  the  property  at  Jamaica  was 
still  in  the  family;  and  the  subject  of  this  notice,  in  losing  his 
estate  at  Cambridge,  was,  therefore,  still  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
handsome  patrimony. 

YASSALL,  WILLIAM.  Of  Boston.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1733.  In  1774  he  was  appointed  a  Mandamus 
Councillor,  but  was  not  sworn  into  office.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished.  He  died  in  England  in  1800,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-five. 

VALK,  JACOB.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Address 
er  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be  armed 
on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  in  1782,  and  his 
property  confiscated. 

VEAL,  NATHANIEL.  One  of  the  grantees  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 

VEAL,  THOMAS.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester. 

VERNON,  GIDEON.  Of  Pennsylvania.  A  nephew  of  Nathan 
iel  Vernon.  Following  the  example  of  his  uncle,  he  entered 
the  royal  service,  and  was  a  captain  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists. 
He  possessed  a  landed  property  of  seven  hundred  acres,  which 
was  confiscated,  and  which  now  is  of  great  value.  For  the 
loss  of  this  estate,  the  British  government  made  him  no  com 
pensation.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  was  the  first  sheriff  of  the  County  of  Charlotte. 
The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  passed  in  Canada,  and  he  died 
there  in  1836.  'His  son,  Moses  Vernon,  Esquire,  who  was  a 
magistrate  of  Charlotte  County  for  several  years,  is  a  resi 
dent  of  St.  John. 

VERNON,  NATHANIEL.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  sheriff  of 
the  County  of  Chester,  and  by  a  document  of  1775,  his  office 
appears  to  have  been  worth  £100  per  annum.  He  accepted  a 
commission  in  the  military  service  of  the  crown,  and  in  1782 
was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion.  His  estate 
was  confiscated. 

VIETS,  ROBERT.  An  Episcopal  clergyman.  He  abandoned 
his  native  country  uto  continue  his  allegiance  to  his  sovereign," 


668  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

and  was  employed  as  an  Episcopal  missionary  at  Digby,  Nova 
Scotia,  for  a  period  of  twenty-four  years.  He  died  at  Digby 
in  181 1,  aged  seventy -four. 

VINCENT,  CHARLES,  Senior.  Of  Westchester  County,  New 
York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

VINCENT,  ELIJAH.     An  ensign  in  the  Guides  and  Pioneers. 

WADDINGTON,  JOHN.  Quartermaster  of  the  First  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

WADE,  THOMAS.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  and  one  child  ar 
rived  at  St.  John.  New  Brunswick,  in  the  ship  Union,  in  the 
spring  of  1783. 

WALBRIDGE,  ZEBULON.  Of  New  York.  Was  included  in  the 
disfranchising  law  of  that  State  of  1784,  but  was  restored  to 
his  civil  rights  by  an  act  of  1786,  on  his  taking  the  oath  of 
abjuration  and  allegiance. 

WALDO,  FRANCIS.  Of  Fal mouth,  Maine.  He  was  the  second 
son  of  General  Samuel  Waldo,  and  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1747.  Until  1758,  there  was  no  Custom-house 
in  Maine  A  naval  officer  and  a  deputy-collector  resided  at 
Falmouth  for  some  years  previously,  but  the  first  collection 
district  was  created  in  that  year,  when  Mr.  Waldo  was  com 
missioned  collector.  His  authority  extended  from  Cape  Porpus 
to  the  Kennebec.  In  1763,  "in  pursuance  of  strict  orders  from 
the  surveyor-general,  he  issued  a  proclamation  against  smug 
gling  rum,  sugar,  and  molasses,  which  had  previously  been 
winked  at,  and  the  officers  were  directed  to  execute  the  law 
with  rigor."  He  was  representative  to  the  General  Court  from 
Falmouth  for  the  years  1762  and  1763.  but  forfeiting  the  favor 
of  the  popular  party,  he  was  not  afterward  elected.  In  1770 
George  Lyde  succeeded  him  as  collector  of  the  customs.  Soon 
after  the  burning  of  Falmouth  he  retired  from  Maine,  and 
never  returned.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished. 
His  property  passed  to  the  State  under  the  confiscation  act,  and 
was  sold  in  1782.  He  went  to  England,  and  died  in  London 
in  1784.  He  was  never  married ;  disappointed  in  an  affair  of 
the  heart,  in  1768,  his  intentions  in  this  respect  were  forever 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  669 

abandoned.  His  sister  married  Thomas  Flucker,  Secretary  of 
Massachusetts,  and  Flucker's  only  daughter  married  General 
Knox.  Mrs.  Knox  was  a  lady  of  strong  mind,  and  lofty  man 
ners.  She  inherited  a  large  share  of  the  Waldo  Patent.  The 
children  of  General  Knox  were  three.  Henry ;  the  wife  of 
Honorable  Ebenezer  Thatcher  of  Maine,  and  the  mother  of 
the  late  B.  B.  Thatcher,  a  fine  writer ;  and  the  widow  of  the 
late  Honorable  John  Holmes. 

WALDO,  SAMUEL.  Brother  of  Francis,  and  eldest  son  of  Gen 
eral  Samuel  Waldo,  a  large  landed  proprietor  in  Maine.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1743,  and  removed  to 
Falmouth  immediately  after.  His  family  had  long  exercised 
a  great  influence  in  Maine,  in  consequence  of  their  estate,  and 
in  1744  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Court.  Gov 
ernor  Shirley,  the  same  year,  gave  him  the  commission  of 
colonel.  In  1753  he  went  to  Europe,  with  authority  from  his 
father  to  procure  emigrants  to  settle  the  Waldo  Patent,  and 
was  successful  in  the  objects  of  his  mission.  In  1760  he  was 
appointed  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Cumberland, 
and  continued  in  office  until  his  decease.  Thus  he  held  the 
first  probate  courts  in  Maine,  and  his  brother  Francis  was 
appointed  to  the  charge  of  the  first  custom-house.  After  his 
first  election  as  representative,  he  was  frequently  re-elected, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  for  eight  years.  He  died 
April  16th,  1770,  aged  forty-nine.  He  was  buried  four  days 
after  "  with  great  parade,  under  the  church,  with  a  sermon, 
and  under  arms."  His  remains  were  subsequently  removed 
to  Boston.  His  first  wife  was  Olive  Grizzel,  of  Boston,  whom 
he  married  in  August,  1760,  and  who  died  the  following  Feb 
ruary.  In  March,  1762,  he  married  Sarah  Erving,  who  bore 
him  six  children,  namely,  Samuel,  John  Erving,  Francis, 
Ralph,  Sarah,  and  Lucy. 

WALDO,  JOSEPH.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  He  went  to  England, 
and  died  there  in  1816,  aged  ninety-four.  He  was  educated 
at  Harvard  University,  and  for  a  considerable  period  was  the 
oldest  graduate  living,  having  received  his  degree  in  1741. 

WALDRON,  LIFFORD.  An  ensign  in  the  Georgia  Loyalists, 
and  quartermaster  of  the  corps. 


670  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WALKER.  Five  persons  of  this  name  in  Massachusetts,  were 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778,  namely,  Adam,  of  Worcester; 
John,  of  Shrewsbury;  and  Gideon,  Benjamin,  and  Zera,  of 
Marshfield. 

WALKER,  DANIEL.  Of  Charlotte  County,  New  York.  Was 
known  as  '-little  Walker,"  and  in  1775  some  Whigs  declared 
that  "they  would  have  him,  if  he  could  be  found  above 
ground." 

WALKER,  ALEXANDER.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was 
an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

WALKER,  THOMAS.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant 
in  the  New  York  Volunteers. 

WALLACE,  ALEXANDER.  A  merchant,  of  New  York,  whose 
property  was  confiscated.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Correspondence,  composed  of  fifty  prominent  men, 
of  whom  Mr.  Jay  was  one;  and  like  several  others  of  that 
body  who  finally  adhered  to  the  royal  cause,  was  in  the  be 
ginning,  I  suppose,  of  Whig  sympathies.  To  this  Committee, 
Francis  Lewis,  subsequently  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  was  added  by  unanimous  consent.  May  19, 
1774. 

WALLACE,  HUGH.  Of  New  York.  A  member  of  the  Coun 
cil  of  the  Colony,  and  was  considered  to  be  in  office  in  1782. 
His  estate  was  confiscated. 

WALLACE,  JONATHAN.  Was  one  of  the  first  loyal  emigrants 
to  New  Brunswick.  He  died  at  St.  George,  August,  1840,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-nine. 

WALLACE,  MICHAEL.  Merchant,  of  Virginia.  He  was  probably 
in  North  Carolina  in  1779,  when  his  property  in  that  State 
was  confiscated.  John  Wallace  was  included  in  the  attainder, 
and  belonged  also  to  Virginia.  •  • 

WALLOP,  BENNET.  A  captain  of  infantry  in  the  Q,eeen's 
Rangers,  and  major  of  brigade  in  the  Loyalist  forces. 

WALSH,  HENRY.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

WALTER,  WILLIAM,  D.  D.  He  was  Rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
Summer  Street,  Boston.  Was  inducted  into  office  in  1768, 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  671 

and  left  his  people  early  in  the  year  1776.  He  was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Gage,  and  was  proscribed  and  banished.  Doctor 
Parker,  who  was  among  the  very  few  Episcopal  clergymen  of 
New  England,  who  remained  with  his  flock  during  the  Revo 
lution,  was  his  successor.  Doctor  Walter  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1756.  He  died  in  Boston  in  the  year  1800. 
He  is  alluded  to  in  McFingal.  At  one  period  of  the  Revolu 
tion  he  appears  to  have  been  chaplain  to  De  Lancey's  Third 
Battalion,  and  in  1785  in  charge  of  an  Episcopal  Church  at 
Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia.  His  son,  Arthur  Maynard  Walter,  a 
young  gentleman  of  great  promise,  died  at  Boston  in  1807, 
aged  twenty-six. 

WALTERMEYER,  JOHN.  A  Tory  partisan  leader.  He  was 
noted  for  enterprise  and  daring,  but  not  for  cruelty  or  ferocity. 
In  1781,  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  Tories,  Indians,  and  Cana 
dians,  he  attempted  to  carry  off  General  Schuyler,  whose  abode 
at  that  time  was  in  the  suburbs  of  Albany.  The  party  entered 
the  dwelling,  commenced  packing  up  the  plate  and  a  search  for 
the  General.  But  that  gentleman  opened  a  window,  and  as  if 
speaking  to  an  armed  force  of  his  own,  called  out —  "Come 
on,  my  brave  fellows,  surround  the  house  and  secure  the  vil 
lains  who  are  plundering."  The  happy  stratagem  caused 
Waltermeyer  and  his  followers  to  betake  themselves  to  flight. 

WALTON,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  In 
1779  a  party  of  rebels  assailed  his  house,  forced  open  the 
door,  seized  his  person,  and  plundered  the  dwelling  of  silver 
plate  and  money.  The  leader  of  the  party  was  supposed  to 
be  one  Benjamin  Kirby,  "  a  native  of  Long  Island,  who  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  but  on  D'Estaing's  arrival  at 
Sandy  Hook,  revolted  to  Jonathan."  Mr.  Walton  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  of  the  City  and  County 
of  New  York,  in  1775,  and  one  of  the  twenty-one  delegates 
chosen  to  the  Provincial  Congress  the  same  year.  As  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee,  he  signed  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Common  Council  of  London,  containing  the 
following  emphatic  expression ;  *  *  *  "  all  the  horrors  of 
civil  war  will  never  compel  America  to  submit  to  taxation  by 


672  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

authority   of   Parliament."      But    yet   he   was   subsequently 
known  as  a  distinguished  Loyalist. 

WALTON,  JACOB.  Of  New  York.  In  1769  he  was  re 
turned  to  the  House  of  Assembly  from  the  city,  and  his  elec 
tion  was  viewed  as  a  triumph  of  the  Episcopalians  over  the 
Presbyterians.  During  the  recess  of  1775  he  joined  Cruger, 
Phillipse,  and  others,  of  the  Ministerial  party,  in  a  letter  on 
the  state  of  public  affairs  to  General  Gage  at  Boston.  In  1776 
General  Lee  ordered  him  to  remove  from  his  house,  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  Whig  troops. 

WALTON,  WILLIAM.  Secretary  to  the  superintendent  of  police 
of  the  city  of  New  York. 

WANTON,  JOSEPH.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1751.  In  1769  he  was  elected  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island.  In  1775  the  House  of  Assembly,  or  House  of 
Magistrates,  passed  an  act  to  raise  and  organize  an  army  of 
fifteen  hundred,  against  which,  he,  the  Deputy  Governor, 
and  other  members  of  the  Upper  House,  entered  a  written 
dissent.  Subsequently,  in  the  same  year,  the  popular  branch 
passed  an  act,  recapitulating  this  offence  in  the  preamble,  and 
stated  in  addition,  that  he  had  refused  to  issue  a  proclamation 
for  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  in  accordance  with  a  Resolve 
of  the  Assembly ;  that,  though  he  had  been  elected  Governor 
of  the  Colony  for  that  year,  he  had  not  taken  the  oath  of 
office ;  and,  that  he  had  refused  to  sign  the  commissions  of  the 
officers  appointed  to  command  the  troops.  In  the  body  of  the 
act,  all  power  as  governor  was  taken  from  him  until  he  should 
comply  with  certain  conditions  therein  stated,  and  authority  to 
sign  civil  and  military  commissions  was  intrusted  to  Henry 
Ward,  Esquire,  the  Colonial  Secretary.  These  proceedings 
occurred  in  April  and  May,  and  in  June  the  Assembly  passed 
another  act,  which  recited  that  Governor  Wanton  had  appeared 
and  demanded  that  the  official  oath  be  administered  to  him, 
but  that  as  he  had  not  given  satisfaction  to  that  body,  his 
request  could  not  be  complied  with.  From  that  period,  Deputy 
Governor  Nicholas  Cooke  appears  as  the  head  of  the  executive 
branch  of  the  government,  and  affixed  his  signature  accord- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  673 

ingly.  Mr.  Wanton  served  as  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  from 
1769,  and  when  superseded,  had  administered  the  government 
upwards  of  five  years.  Perhaps  his  appointment,  under  the 
great  seal  of  England,  to  inquire  into  the  affair  of  the  burning 
of  the  king's  ship,  the  Gaspee,  by  the  Whigs  in  1773,  hastened 
his  decline  and  fall.  He  died  in  1782. 

WANTON,  WILLIAM.  Of  Rhode  Island.  In  July,  1783,  he  was 
at  New  York,  and  a  petitioner  for  grants  of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia. 
See  Abijah  Willard.  He  settled  afterwards  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  about  the  year  1786  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  Cus 
toms  for  the  port  of  St.  John.  He  held  that  office  for  a  period 
of  thirty  years.  In  1801  he  went  to  England,  accompanied 
by  his  lady,  in  the  mast-ship,  Duke  of  Kent.  He  died  at  St. 
John  in  1816,  aged  eighty-two.  His  widow  died  at  Exeter, 
England,  in  1824.  The  monument  erected  over  his  remains 
is  in  a  ruinous  condition. 

WARD,  BENJAMIN.  Of  New  York.  A  lieutenant  in  the 
Loyal  American  Regiment. 

WARD,  DANIEL.  Of  New  York.  A  grantee  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

WARD,  GILBERT.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  One 
of  the  Loyalist  Protesters  at  White  Plains,  April,  1775. 

WARD,  JOHN.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  He 
was  an  officer  in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment,  and  entered 
the  military  service  of  the  crown  as  early  as  1776.  During 
the  war  he  was  frequently  in  battle.  The  Loyal  Americans 
went  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783;  and  when,  in  the  course  of 
that  year,  the  corps  was  disbanded,  he  settled  at  St.  John  as  a 
merchant.  He  filled  various  public  stations;  and  for  many 
years  enjoyed  the  appellation  of  The  Father  of  the  City.  At 
the  time  of  his  decease  he  was  not  only  the  senior  magistrate  of 
the  City  and  County  of  St.  John,  but  the  oldest  merchant  and 
half-pay  officer  in  New  Brunswick.  Mr.  Ward  was  a  gentle 
man  of  noble  and  venerable  appearance.  He  died  in  1846,  in 
the  ninety- third  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  taken  to 
Trinity  Church,  "where  the  impressive  funeral  service  of  the 
Church  of  England  was  read,  and  were  subsequently  interred 
57 


674  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

in  the  New  Burial  Ground,  followed  to  the  grave  by  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  respectable  funeral  processions  ever  seen  in 
this  city,  —  including,  in  distinct  bodies,  the  Justices  of  the 
Peace  for  the  City  and  County  of  St.  John,  —  the  Common 
Council  of  the  city,  headed  by  his  Worship  the  Mayor,  and 
his  Honor  the  Recorder,  —  the  members  of  the  Legal  Profes 
sion,  (the  Barristers  being  in  their  Gowns,)  at  the  head  of 
whom  was  his  Honor  Mr.  Justice  Carter,  supported  by  the  Hon 
orable  the  Attorney  General  and  Solicitor  General,  —  the  Grand 
Jury  for  the  City  and  County,  then  attending  the  Circuit  Court, 
—  and  the  officers  and  men  of  the  New  Brunswick  Regiment 
of  Artillery  of  St.  John ;  as  well  as  a  vast  concourse  of  other 
citizens,  —  all  anxious  to  pay  the  last  sad  tribute  of  respect  to 
one  who  was  so  intimately  associated  with  the  early  history  of 
the  country,"  &c. 

WARDEN,  JOHN.  Of  Virginia.  A  lawyer  of  some  celebrity. 
He  was  unfriendly  not  only  to  American  Independence,  but  to 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 

WARDEN,  JAMES.  Was  an  Addresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774; 
Joseph  and  William  Warden  went  to  Halifax  in  1776.  All  be 
longed  to  Boston,  and  the  last,  who  was  a  peruke-maker,  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WARDROBE,  DAVID.  Of  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia.  In 
November,  1774,  he  was  examined  by  the  Whig  Committee  of 
that  County,  concerning  a  letter  "false,  scandalous,  and  inim 
ical  to  America,"  which  he  had  written  to  a  correspondent  in 
Scotland.  The  Committee  passed  a  number  of  Resolves, 
which  they  recommended  "  to  all  those  who  regard  the  peace, 
the  liberty,  and  rights  of  their  country;  "  two  were  as  follows. 
"  Resolved,  That  the  vestry  of  Cople  Parish  be  desired  no 
longer  to  furnish  the  said  Wardrobe  with  the  use  of  the  vestry- 
house  for  his  keeping  school  therein."  And,  "  That  all  persons 
who  have  sent  their  children  to  school  to  the  said  Wardrobe, 
do  immediately  take  them  away,  and  that  he  be  regarded 
as  a  wicked  enemy  to  America,  and  be  treated  as  such." 

WARNER,  CHRISTIAN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  675 

WARNER,  JOHN.  A  lieutenant  in  the  militia,  of  Westchester 
County,  New  York.  A  Protester  at  White  Plains. 

WARREN,  ABRAHAM.  He  embarked  at  Boston  with  the  British 
army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

WARREN,  JAMES.  Brewer,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1778  the 
Council  ordered,  that  failing  to  appear  and  be  tried  for  treason, 
he  should  stand  attainted. 

WARTONBY,  WILLIAM.  Bricklayer,  of  Duck  Creek,  Dela 
ware.  In  1778  he  was  required  to  submit  himself  for  trial 
for  treason  within  a  specified  time,  on  pain  of  losing  his 

estate. 

WASHBURN, .  Of  New  York.  An  adherent  of  the  crown, 

of  most  infamous  character.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Whigs,  and  when  the  exchange  of  General  Silliman  and  Judge 
Jones  was  arranged,  it  was  stipulated  that  he  should  be  re 
leased.  In  May,  1780,  he  was  accordingly  given  up. 

WATERBURY,  DAVID.  Of  Connecticut.  Settled  in  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and  held  various  public  stations.  He  died 
there  in  1833,  aged  seventy-five.  In  1775  there  was  a  David 
Waterbury,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Connecticut  militia,  who, 
because  of  some  difficulty,  resigned. 

WATERBURY,  JOHN.  Of  Connecticut.  Went  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city ; 
and  entered  upon  the  life  of  a  merchant.  In  1795  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Loyal  Artillery.  He  died  in  that  city  in 
IS  17,  aged  sixty -eight. 

WATERBURY,  PETER  COOKE.  Of  Connecticut.  Was  a  cornet 
of  cavalry  in  Arnold's  American  Legion.  In  1783  he  settled 
at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay. 

WATERHOUSE,  SAMUEL.  Of  Boston.  An  officer  of  the  cus 
toms.  He  is  described  as  "  the  most  notorious  scribbler,  sati 
rist,  and  libeller,  in  the  service  of  the  conspirators  against  the 
liberties  of  America."  He  accompanied  the  British  troops  to 
Halifax  at  the  evacuation,  and  embarked  for  England  with  his 
family,  in  the  ship  Aston  Hall,  July,  1776.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished.  In  1779  he  was  in  London,  a  Loy 
alist  Addresser  of  the  king. 


676  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WATERS,  ABEL.  A  cornet  in  the  King's  American  Dra 
goons. 

WATKINS,  .  An  ensign  in,  and  the  adjutant  of  the 

King's  American  Regiment.  He  was  killed  in  1779,  at  New 
Haven,  Connecticut. 

WATSON,  BROOK,  Esquire.  He  professed  to  be  a  Whig. 
Thus  assuming,  he  visited  several  of  the  principal  towns  and 
cities  in  the  Colonies,  and  gained  the  attention  of  many  per 
sons  of  distinction,  and  especially  of  members  of  Congress. 
At  this  time  he  was  a  merchant  at  Montreal ;  and  returning 
there,  after  a  tour  which  embraced  Massachusetts,  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  New  York,  some  of  his  letters  to  persons  in  Gage's 
army  at  Boston,  which  were  intercepted,  revealed  his  true 
character  to  be  that  of  a  spy.  He 'went  to  England.  In  1775, 
when  Lord  North's  bill  to  cut  off  the  fisheries  of  New  Eng 
land  was  before  Parliament,  he  was  called  before  the  House  of 
Commons  and  examined.  In  1786  he  became  agent  for  the 
Colony  of  New  Brunswick  in  England,  and  was  the  first  one 
employed.  At  a  subsequent  period  of  his  life,  he  was  Lord 
Mayor  of  London.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  a  man 
of  talents,  but  artful  and  insincere.  He  died  at  London  in 
1807,  and  was  styled,  Sir  Watson  Brook,  Baronet. 

WATSON,  GEORGE.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  appointed  a 
Mandamus  Councillor,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  the 
oath  of  office.  I  suppose  this  gentleman  to  have  been  the 
Colonel  George  Watson,  of  Plymouth,  who  died  at  that  place 
in  the  year  1800 ;  and  who  is  said  to  have  possessed  almost 
every  virtue  that  can  adorn  and  dignify  the  human  character. 

WATSON,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city.  He  died  at  Wickham, 
Queen's  County,  in  1846,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-nine 
years. 

WATSON,  JOHN.  A  physician,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware. 
Was  proscribed  in  1778 ;  John,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
was  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  and  John, 
(perhaps  the  former),  was  at  New  York  July,  1783,  a  petitioner 
for  lands  in  Nova  Scotia.  See  Abijah  Willard.  Jonathan,  of 
Virginia,  was  in  London  in  1779,  an  Addresser  of  the  king. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  677 

WATTS,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Colony,  and  was  considered  to  be  in  office  in 
1782.  His  estate  was  confiscated.  He  went  to  England.  A 
daughter  married  Sir  John  Johnson,  of  New  York,  knight  and 
baronet. 

WATTS,  -  — .  Of  New  York.  Son  of  John  Watts.  He 
entered  the  royal  service,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  Royal 
Greens,  under  Sir  John  Johnson,  his  brother-in-law.  In  1777 
he  was  in  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  one  of  the  severest,  and  for 
the  numbers  engaged,  one  of  the  most  bloody  actions  of  the 
war.  He  was  wounded,  and  left  on  the  field  with  the  slain, 
and  was  reported  among  the  killed.  But  reviving  from  faint- 
ness,  produced  by  loss  of  blood,  he  crawled  to  a  brook,  slaked 
his  thirst,  and  two  or  three  days  after  was  found  by  some 
Indian  scouts,  and  conveyed  to  the  British  camp. 

WATTS,  GEORGE,  and  GEORGE,  junior.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

WAY,  JOHN.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowl 
edged  allegiance  in  1776,  and  in  1779  was  an  Addresser  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling.  The  latter  document  was  also 
signed  by  James  Way  of  that  County. 

WAYNE,  RICHARD.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  a  Petitioner  to  be 
armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished,  and  his 
property  confiscated  in  1782. 

WEATHERHEAD,  JOHN.  Merchant,  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
His  property  was  confiscated. 

WEBB,  JOHN.  Of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts.  Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Hutchinson  in  1774. 

WEBB,  NEHEMIAH.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WEBB,  SAMUEL.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  Was 
a  Protester  in  1775. 

WEBB,  F.     Of  New  York.     Was  in  London  in  1779. 

WEBB,  JOHN.     Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.     Was  an  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 
57* 


678  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WEBB,  WILLIAM.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  grantee  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783. 

WEEKES.  Twenty-eight  persons  of  this  name,  of  Queen's 
County,  New  York,  were  signers  of  a  Representation  and  Pe 
tition  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William  Howe,  acknowl 
edging  allegiance,  October,  1 776.  To  wit :  Richard,  Refine, 
Jesse,  Samuel,  John,  Daniel  junior,  Abraham,  Nathaniel,  Ja 
cob,  John,  Michael,  Townsend,  George,  Daniel,  Edmond, 
George,  Anthony,  Levi,  Daniel,  Richard,  John  junior,  Samuel, 
Seaman,  George  senior,  Joseph,  John  senior,  John,  and  Nicho 
las.  In  1778  the  house  of  one  of  the  Johns  was  plundered  by 
a  band  from  Connecticut,  led  by  one  Carehart,  who,  pretend 
ing  to  be  an  adherent  of  the  crown,  had  previously  visited 
Weekes  and  others,  and  had  been  kindly  entertained. 

WEEKS,  WINGATE.  In  1782  he  was  chaplain  of  the  King's 
Orange  Rangers.  After  the  war  he  settled  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  was  an  Episcopal  clergyman. 

WEITNER,  GEORGE.  Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  It  was 
ordered  in  Council,  in  1778,  that  he  surrender  himself  for  trial, 
or  stand  attainted. 

WELCH,  JAMES.  Of  Brandywine,  Delaware.  In  1778  he  was 
required  by  law  to  surrender  and  be  tried  for  treason,  or  lose 
his  estate. 

WELCH,  THOMAS.  Quartermaster  of  the  Maryland  Loyal 
ists. 

WELDEN,  PATRICK.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at 
the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  that  city. 

WELLING,  WILLIAM.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  cf 
the  Declaration  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs,  January, 
1775.  Samuel  Willing,  and  Charles  Willing,  of  Jamaica,  signed 
the  same  paper. 

WELLS,  JOHN.  Was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
succeeded  his  father,  who  was  a  firm  Loyalist,  as  a  printer 
and  bookseller  of  that  city,  in  1775.  Until  the  capitulation  of 
that  city,  John  was  a  Whig,  having  borne  arms  against  the 
British.  But  he  then  commenced  the  publication  of  a  Royal 
Gazette,  which  he  continued  until  December,  1782.  At  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  679 

close  of  the  war  he  was  among  the  proscribed;  and  abandon 
ing  the  United  States,  he  went  to  Nassau,  New  Providence, 
where  he  established  the  Royal  Bahama  Gazette.  Dissatisfied 
with  his  residence  there,  he  was  preparing  to  return  to  his 
native  land,  "  when  he  was  summoned  to  the  world  of  spirits." 
He  had  married  at  Nassau,  and  was  highly  esteemed. 

WELLS,  JOHN,  Junior.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished  in 
1782,  and  his  property  confiscated. 

WELLS,  JOHN.  A  physician,  of  South  Carolina.  In  1782 
his  estate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 

WELLS,  ROBERT.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County,  New 
York.  Joined  in  a  loyal  Declaration  in  1775. 

WELLS,  ROBERT.  A  native  of  Scotland.  Established  him 
self  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1758,  as  a  bookseller, 
printer,  and  publisher  of  a  newspaper.  For  many  years  he 
was  the  principal  bookseller  in  the  Carolinas,  and  his  business 
was  both  extensive  and  profitable.  He  held  the  office  of  Mar 
shal  of  the  Admiralty  Court;  and  was  also  a  noted  auctioneer 
for  the  disposal  of  cargoes  of  slaves.  Firmly  attached  to  the 
royal  cause,  he  resigned  his  establishment  to  his  son  John,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Revolution ;  went  to  Europe,  and 
never  returned.  He  was  a  good  editor,  and  in  his  relations  as 
a  man  of  business,  was  active,  prompt,  and  just.  His  news 
paper  was  the  second  published  in  South  Carolina;  and  in 
1775  it  was  called  the  South  Carolina  and  American  General 
Gazette,  which  may  have  been  its  name  from  its  commence 
ment. 

WELLS,  SAMUEL.  Of  Cumberland  County,  New  York.  He 
was  a  colonel  of  militia,  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  mem 
ber  of  the  House  of  Assembly.  During  the  recess  of  the  As 
sembly  in  1775,  he  joined  other  ministerial  members  in  a  letter 
to  General  Gage  at  Boston. 

WELSH,  JAMES  and  PETER.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the 
British  army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

WEMPLE,  ANDREW.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 


680  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WENTWORTH,  BENNING.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished, 
and  his  estate  was  confiscated,  under  the  act  of  New  Hamp 
shire  of  1778.  I  suppose,  that,  before  abandoning  the  country, 
he  was  a  resident  of  Boston.  In  1795  he  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Council,  and  the  year  following,  Secretary  of 
Nova  Scotia.  At  this  time  he  enjoyed  the  office  of  Treasurer 
of  that  Colony,  but  resigned  the  trust  in  1797.  In  1800  he 
was  commissioned  Master  of  the  Robes,  and  Registrar  in 
Chancery.  He  died  at  Halifax  in  1808.  His  son,  Lieutenant 
Benning  William  Bentinck  Wentworth,  of  the  Royal  Navy, 
and  heir  to  the  titles  and  honors  of  the  Earldom  of  Strafford, 
died  in  England,  in  1810,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

WENTWORTH,  SIR  JOHN,  Baronet,  LL.  D.  Surveyor  of  the 
king's  woods  in  North  America,  and  Governor  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  of  Nova  Scotia ;  was  born  in  1736,  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1755,  and  died  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia, 
April  8th,  1820,  aged  eighty-three  years.  He  was  proscribed 
by  the  act  of  New  Hampshire  of  1778,  and  his  estate  confis 
cated.  His  uncle,  Benning  Wentworth,  preceded  him  as  Gov 
ernor  of  New  Hampshire.  John  was  in  England  at  the  time 
it  was  determined  to  remove  Benning,  and  having  become 
acquainted  with  some  members  of  the  administration,  of 
whom  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham  (himself  a  Wentworth) 
was  the  head,  solicited  that  his  relation  might  not  be  ejected 
from  office,  but  be  allowed  to  resign.  This  was  acceded  to, 
and  the  nephew,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-one,  succeeded  to 
the  honors  of  the  uncle.  John  Wentworth  was  an  admirable 
chief  magistrate,  and  occupied  the  executive  chair  from  1767 
to  1775,  and  was  the  last  royal  governor  of  the  province.  He 
enjoyed  at  the  same  time  the  dignity  of  surveyor  of  the  king's 
woods  in  America,  an  office  of  some  patronage,  of  but  little 
care  and  duty,  and  worth  £700  per  annum.  He  remained 
very  popular  until  Gage  applied  to  him  to  procure  workmen 
in  New  Hampshire,  to  proceed  to  Boston  to  erect  barracks  for 
the  British  troops.  The  carpenters  at  Boston  had  refused  the 
employment,  and  Wentworth  endeavored  secretly  to  comply 
with  Gage's  desire.  This  act  was  a  death-blow  to  his  au- 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  681 

thority  and  confidence,  and  he  soon  after  abandoned  his  gov 
ernment.  His  last  official  act  was  performed  at  the  Isle  of 
Shoals,  where  he  prorogued  the  Assembly.  He  embarked 
in  the  Scarborough  ship  of  war  for  Boston,  August  24,  1775. 
He  soon  went  to  England,  where  he  remained  some  time.  On 
the  14th  of  May,  1792,  he  was  sworn  in  as  Lieutenant  Gover 
nor  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  continued  in  office  until  1808,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Sir  George  Prevost.  In  1795  he  was 
created  a  baronet.  On  retiring  from  the  executive  chair,  and 
the  Colony  of  Nova  Scotia,  a  pension  was  granted  him  of 
£500  per  annum.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1810,  he  and 
lady  Wentworth  returned  to  renew  their  residence  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  received  an  affectionate  address  from  the  people  of 
Halifax.  Here  he  remained  until  his  decease. 

Sir  John  was  an  excellent  public  man  every  way.  In  busi 
ness,  few  surpassed  him  in  promptness,  intelligence,  and  effi 
ciency.  His  talents  were  of  a  high  order,  his  judgment  was 
sound,  and  his  views  were  broad  and  liberal.  He  was  dis 
tinguished  for  literary  taste  and  attainments.  The  Universi 
ties  of  Oxford  and  Aberdeen  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws.  He  was  the  friend  of  learning,  and  gave  to 
Dartmouth  College  its  charter  rights.  He  did  much  to  en 
courage  the  agriculture  and  promote  the  settlement  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  he  endeavored  by  every  means  in  his  power 
to  increase  the  wealth  and  importance  of  the  province.  When 
the  Revolutionary  troubles  commenced,  his  zeal  was  un 
wearied  to  prevent  a  rupture.  He  could  not  resist  the  great 
movement  which  released  America  from  the  bondage  of  the 
Colonial  system;  but  he  did  retire  from  his  official  trusts,  with 
a  character  unimpeached,  and  with  a  good  name.  No  royal 
Governor  of  his  time  in  the  thirteen  Colonies,  was  so  highly 
respected  by  the  Whigs  as  Wentworth ;  and  not  one  of  the 
official  dignitaries,  who  clung  to  the  royal  cause,  will  go  down 
to  posterity  with  a  more  enviable  fame.  Had  Bernard  and 
Hutchinson  been  like  him,  the  Revolution  might  have  been 
delayed.  But  since  colonies  become  nations,  as  surely  as  boys 
become  men,  thafr  event  could  not  have  been  prevented,  and 


682  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

would  have  happened,  probably,  in  another  generation,  though 
every  servant  of  the  crown  on  the  continent  had  possessed  the 
admirable  traits  of  character  of  the  subject  of  this  notice. 
Lady  Wentworth  died  in  England  in  1813.  No  child  of  Sir 
John's  is  now  alive.  His  son,  Sir  Charles  M.  Wentworth, 
baronet,  who  was  the  last  survivor,  and  who  was  a  native  of 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  was  appointed  a  member  of  his 
Majesty's  Council,  in  Nova  Scotia,  in  1801,  and  died  at  King- 
sand,  Devonport,  England,  in  April,  1844.  Sir  John  owned  a 
fine  farm,  and  erected  a  large  and  elegant  house  at  Wolfe- 
borough,  New  Hampshire.  This  estate  has  been  in  various 
hands  since  it  passed  from  his  possession  under  the  confisca 
tion  act  of  that  State,  and  as  long  ago  as  1814  the  mansion 
was  in  a  ruinous  condition. 

WENTWORTH,  MARK  HUNTING.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was 
the  son  of  Lieutenant  Governor  John  Wentworth,  and  father 
of  Sir  John  Wentworth.  He  was  bred  a  merchant,  and  had 
the  agency  of  procuring  spars  for  the  royal  navy.  He  took 
part  in  politics,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  His  death 
occurred  in  1785,  in  New  Hampshire.  His  character  was 
highly  honorable  ;  his  charity  and  kindness  unbounded.  His 
fortune,  which  he  amassed  in  business,  was  large. 

WENTWORTH,  PAUL.  Was  at  London  in  1785,  and  joined 
other  Loyalists  in  a  petition  to  the  government  for  relief. 

WESTON,  RICHARD.  Of  Frankstown,  Pennsylvania.  Failing 
to  appear  and  be  tried  for  treason,  the  Council,  in  1778,  or 
dered  that  he  should  stand  attainted. 

WESTOVER,  JOB.  Of  Sheffield,  Massachusetts.  In  May,  1775, 
the  Whig  Committee  of  Observation  unanimously  denounced 
him  as  an  enemy  of  American  liberty.  Job  had  affirmed,  that 
"the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  had  a  right  to  tax  the  Amer 
icans,"  and  had  said  many  things  disrespectful  of  the  Conti 
nental  and  the  Provincial  Congress. 

WESTROP,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Amer 
ican  Volunteers. 

WETHERFORD,  MAJOR.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  Rangers, 
Carolina. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  683 

WETMORE,  CALEB.  Of  New  York.  Settled  in  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  in  1805  was  an  alderman  of  the  city.  He 
removed,  subsequently,  to  King's  County,  where  he  still  (1846) 
resides. 

WETMORE,  DAVID  B.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Colony.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and 
a  judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  for  King's  County.  He  died  at 
Norton,  in  that  County,  in  1845,  aged  eighty-two,  leaving 
many  descendants. 

WETMORE,  ROBERT  G.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Timothy  Wet- 
more.  He  became  a  resident  of  New  Brunswick,  and  aban 
doning  the  profession  of  the  law,  to  which  he  was  educated, 
devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  divinity,  and  was  ordained  a 
clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  church.  He  died  in  1803,  in  Sa 
vannah,  Georgia,  at  the  seat  of  the  Honorable  Joseph  Clay, 
junior. 

WETMORE,  THOMAS.  Of  New  York.  Son  of  Timothy  Wet- 
more.  Removed  to  New  Brunswick,  where  he  filled  several 
important  public  stations.  In  1792  he  held  the  offices  of 
Deputy  Surrogate  of  the  Colony,  was  Master  and  Examiner 
in  Chancery,  Register  of  Wills  and  Deeds  for  the  County  of 
Queens,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  At  a  later  period 
he  was  appointed  Attorney  General,  and  continued  to  serve 
the  crown  in  that  capacity  until  his  decease  in  1828. 

WETMORE,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
He  was  a  person  of  consideration  and  influence.  In  Septem 
ber,  1774,  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  that  County  met 
at  Rye,  and  declared,  that  they  were  "much  concerned  with 
the  unhappy  situation  of  public  affairs,"  and  that  they  con 
sidered  it  to  be  their  duty  to  state  that  they  had  had  no  part 
"in  any  resolution  entered  into,  or  measures  taken,  with  re 
gard  to  the  disputes  at  present  subsisting  with  the  mother 
country."  They  also  expressed  their  "  dislike  to  many  hot 
and  furious  proceedings  in  consequence  of  said  disputes, 
which,"  in  their  opinion  were  "  more  likely  to  ruin  this  once 
happy  country,  than  remove  grievances,  if  any  there  are." 


684  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

They  also  declared  their  "  great  desire  and  full  resolution  to 
live  and  die  peaceable  subjects  to  our  gracious  Sovereign  King 
George  the  Third  and  his  laws."  To  this  cautious  Declara 
tion  Mr.  Wetmore  affixed  his  name.  It  appears  to  have  satis 
fied  neither  party,  and  was  misconstrued  by  both.  A  few 
weeks  after  he  accordingly  submitted  the  following  explana 
tion. 

"The  above  paper  [quoting  it]  like  many  others,  being  lia 
ble  to  misconstruction,  and  having  been  understood  by  many 
to  import  a  recognition  of  a  right  in  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain  to  bind  America  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  and  to  signify 
that  the  Colonies  labor  under  no  grievances,  I  think  it  my 
duty  to  explain  my  sentiments  upon  the  subject,  and  thereby 
prevent  future  mistakes.  It  is  my  opinion  that  the  Parliament 
have  no  right  to  tax  America,  though  they  have  a  right  to 
regulate  the  trade  of  the  Empire.  I  am  further  of  opinion, 
that  several  acts  of  Parliament  are  grievances,  and  that  the 
execution  of  them  ought  to  be  opposed  in  such  manner,  as 
may  be  consistent  with  the  duty  of  a  subject  to  our  Sovereign; 
though  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  disapprobation  of  many 
violent  proceedings  in  some  of  the  Colonies. 

"  TIMOTHY  WETMORE." 

"November  3,  1774." 

This  —  for  the  time,  and  in  New  York  —  was  much  like  a 
Whig's  view  of  the  controversy,  and  might  have  passed  for  a 
Recantation.  Fifteen  of  those  who  met  at  Rye,  and  were  fel 
low  signers  with  Mr.  Wetmore,  had  previously  expressed  their 
"sorrow  that  they  had  any  concern  "  in  the  Declaration,  and 
"  utterly  disclaimed  every  part  thereof,  except  their  professions 
of  loyalty  to  the  King,  and  obedience  to  the  constitutional 
laws  of  the  Realm ;  "  and  thus  the  proceedings  in  September, 
by  so  great  defection,  rather  served  than  injured  the  Whigs  of 
that  County. 

Whatever  were  the  causes  which  induced  Mr.  Wetmore  to 
join  in  repudiating  the  sentiments,  which  he  probably  em 
bodied  for  the  action  and  adoption  of  his  associates,  which  he 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  685 

felt  required  to  expound,  and  which,  in  his  explanation,  he 
nullified  ;  he  finally  fell  off,  adhered  anew  to  the  royal  party, 
and  in  the  course  of  events  became  an  exile.  After  the  close 
of  hostilities  he  retired  to  New  Brunswick,  resided  at  St.  John 
for  several  years,  and  held  situations  of  honor  and  trust. 

WEYMEN,  MOSES.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A 
Protester. 

WHARTON,  THOMAS,  the  elder.  Of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a 
merchant  of  great  wealth  and  influence,  and  of  the  sect  of 
Quakers.  In  the  enterprise  of  Galloway  and  Goddard,  to  es 
tablish  the  Chronicle,  a  leading  newspaper,  he  was  their  part 
ner;  and  the  parties  supposed  that  Franklin,  on  his  return 
from  England,  would  join  them.  Previous  to  the  Revolution, 
Franklin  and  Mr.  Wharton  were  correspondents.  In  1774, 
Washington  records,  that  he  "dined  with  Thomas  Wharton." 
In  1777,  he  was  apprehended  and  sent  prisoner  to  Virginia;  and 
at  a  subsequent  period  was  proscribed  as  an  enemy  to  his 
country,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  decrees  of 
Pennsylvania.  Thomas  Wharton,  junior,  was  a  distinguished 
Whig,  and  President  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  controversy,  and  indeed,  until  near  the  time  when  blood 
was  shed,  both  acted  together,  and  were  members  of  the  same 
deliberative  assemblies  and  committees. 

WHEATON,  CALEB.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WHEATON,  JOHN.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the 
peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city. 

WHEELER,  AMAZIAH,  HENRY,  and  ELIAS.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  ^allegiance  October,  1774. 

WHEELER,  CALVIN.  Of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  A 
member  of  the  Association  at  Reading.  Of  the  same,  were 
Enos  Wheeler  and  Lazarus  Wheeler,  of  Reading. 

WHEELER,   DANIEL.     Of  Fairfield,  Connecticut.     The  Whig 
Committee  of  Inspection  ordered  public,  notice  to  be  given,  that 
"All  connexions,  commerce,  arid  dealings,  ought  to  be  with 
drawn  from  him  by  every  friend  to  his  country,"  because  he 
58 


686  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

had  violated  the  Association  of  the  Continental  Congress.  This 
occurred  in  March,  1775. 

WHEELER,  JOSIAH.  A  lieutenant  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's 
American  Volunteers. 

WHEELOCK,  OBID.  A  captain.  Died  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Sco 
tia,  in  1807,  aged  seventy-two. 

WHEELWRIGHT,  JOB.  Of  Boston.  A  Protester  against  the 
Whigs  in  1774.  ' 

WHEELWRIGHT,  JOSEPH.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  Brit 
ish  army  for  Halifax,  1776. 

WHITE,  ABIJAH.  Of  Marshfieldj  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  that  town,  and 
a  government  man  of  great  zeal,  but  of  little  discretion.  He 
carried  to  Boston  the  famous  Marshfield  Resolves,  censuring 
the  Whigs,  and  on  his  arrival  at  the  capital  caused  the  docu 
ment  to  be  published.  The  act  drew  upon  him  the  wrath  of 
the  writers  in  the  Whig  newspapers,  and  he  sunk  under  the 
burden  of  general  ridicule.  He  is  commemorated  in  McPingal. 

WHITE,  ALEXANDER.  Sheriif  of  Try  on,  now  Montgomery, 
County,  New  York.  He  rendered  himself  particularly  obnox 
ious  to  the  Whigs  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy.  In 
1775  a  band  of  Whigs,  to  the  number  of  about  fifty,  released 
by  force  a  Whig  whom  he  had  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and 
proceeded  to  his  dwelling  and  demanded  his  surrender.  White 
discharged  a  pistol  from  his  chamber  window,  and  thus,  it  is 
said,  fired  the  first  shot  in  the  Revolution  west  of  the  Hudson. 
His  fire  was  instantly  returned  by  the  discharge  of  forty  or  fifty 
muskets,  but  he  escaped  with  a  slight  wound  in  the  breast. 
The  Whigs  demolished  the  doors  of  the  house,  and  were  at  the 
point  of  seizing  him,  when  the  alarm-gun  of  Sir  John  Johnson 
admonished  them  that  his  retainers,  a  much  more  numerous 
body  than  themselves,  would  soon  muster  and  overpower  them, 
and  they  accordingly  dispersed.  During  the  difficulties  be 
tween  the  Whigs  and  Tories  of  that  County,  in  1775,  White 
was  dismissed  from  his  office  by  the  Committee,  who  acted  for 
the  people  in  their  sovereign  capacity,  but  was  restored  by 
Governor  Tryon.  But  the  Committee  would  not  allow  him  to 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  687 

perform  his  official  duties  after  his  appointment,  and  popular 
indignation  against  him  became  at  length  so  strong,  that  he 
was  compelled  to  fly.  He  was,  however,  pursued  and  taken 
prisoner,  and  placed  in  confinement  at  Albany.  On  his  release, 
after  a  short  imprisonment,  he  left  the  country.  Besides  firing 
the  first  shot,  as  mentioned  above,  it  is  also  said  that  Sheriff 
White  and  a  band  of  Loyalists  cut  down  the  first  Liberty-pole 
which  was  erected  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  —  that  at  Ger 
man  Flatts.  He  had  been  a  captain  in  the  French  war.  In 
1775  he  joined  Sir  John  Johnson  and  others,  in  a  Declaration 
of  loyalty. 

WHITE,  HENRY.  Of  New  York.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Colony,  and  considered  to  be  in  office  in  1782. 
His  estate  was  confiscated.  He  was  a  merchant,  arid  one  of 
the  New  York  consignees  of  the  Tea.  He  was  on  terms  of 
intimacy  with,  and  transacted  business  for,  Governor  Martin, 
of  North  Carolina ;  and  a  letter  of  his  Excellency,  which  was 
intercepted,  and  in  which  he  asked  Mr.  White  to  send  him  a 
royal  standard,  was  considered  in  the  Provincial  Congress, 
July,  1775.  The  standard,  he  informed  the  Committee  of 
Congress,  was  not  sent.  Mr.  White  went  to  England  in  1783. 
In  1836,  there  died  in  New  York,  at  the  age  of  ninety-nine, 
"  Eve,  relict  of  Harry  White,  Esquire,  a  commissary  of  the 
British  service."  She  was  of  the  family  of  Van  Courtlandt.  One 
of  her  sons  was  Lieutenant  General  White,  of  the  British  Army. 
Another  son  was  Rear  Admiral  White,  of  the  Royal  Navy. 
One  of  her  daughters  was  Dowager  Lady  Hayes,  and  widow 
of  the  late  Peter  Jay  Monroe,  Esquire.  Madam  White  was  a 
lady  of  wealth,  and  her  recollections  of  New  York  society 
were  curious. 

WHITE,  JOHN.  Removed  to  New  Brunswick  in  1783,  and 
settled  at  Long  Reach,  King's  County,  on  land  granted  him  by 
the  crown.  On  this  land  he  resided  for  about  fifty-five  years. 
He  died  at  Long  Reach  in  1838,  at  the  advanced  age  of  nine 
ty-six. 

WHITE,  PHILIP.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Whigs,  and 
while  some  light-horse  were  conveying  him  to  camp,  he  at- 


688 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


tempted  to  escape;  though  called  upon  to  stop,  he  continued  to 
run,  and  as  he  was  about  to  leap  into  a  bog,  was  cut  down. 
In  retaliation,  the  Tory  Captain  Lippincott  hung  the  Whig 
Captain  Huddy,  as  mentioned  in  the  notice  of  Lippincott. 
White  belonged  to  New  York,  or  New  Jersey,  and  his  death 
occurred  in  March,  1782.  It  was  pretended  that  he  was  un 
justly  killed ;  but  there  is  proof  that,  after  making  tokens  of 
surrender,  he  took  up  a  musket  and  killed  a  son  of  Colonel 
Hendrickson ;  and  this  fact  rests  on  the  evidence  of  a  Loyalist 
who  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  same  time.  It  was  said,  also, 
that  after  his  capture,  the  Whigs  maimed  him  and  broke  his 
legs,  and  tauntingly  bid  him  run ;  but  the  story  is  false. 

WHITE, •.  Of  New  York.  On  the  night  of  the  fire  in 

that  city,  in  1776,  he  was  hanged  on  a  tavern  sign-post  at  the 
corner  of  Cherry  and  Roosevelt  streets.  He  was,  says  a  writer 
of  the  time,  "a  decent  citizen,  and  a  house-carpenter,  rather  too 
violent  a  loyalist,  and  latterly,  had  addicted  himself  to  liquor." 
Several  persons  were  arrested  and  examined  for  the  murder  of 
this  man,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  Offenders  were  never  dis 
covered. 

WHITE.  Besides  the  preceding,  there  were  many  others,  and 
among  them,  in  Massachusetts  —  John,  of  Boston,  and  Samuel, 
of  Marblehead,  who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson,  1774. 
Gideon,  junior,  of  Taunton,  who  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 
Cornelius,  of  Plymouth ;  Cornelius  the  3d,  of  Marshfield,  and 
Daniel,  junior,  of  Marshfield,  who,  Samuel  excepted,  were 
severally  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778.  Gideon  White, 
Esq.,  a  Loyalist,  died  at  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  1833,  aged 
eighty-two.  In  Connecticut  —  was  Thomas,  of  New  Haven, 
who  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  died  at  L'Tete  Passage, 
Charlotte  County,  1819,  aged  sixty.  In  New  York  —  was 
Thomas,  whose  estate  was  confiscated.  In  Pennsylvania  — 
was  Robert,  a  merchant  and  mariner,  who  was  proscribed  in 
1778.  And  —  residence  unknown  —  were  James,  who  was  a 
cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion ;  Thomas  and  Vincent, 
who  were  grantees  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1783 ;  and 
William,  who  died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick,  in  1838,  aged 
seventy-seven. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  689 

WHIFFLE,  EBENEZER.  Of  Rutland,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1775. 

WHISTON,  or  WHEATON,  OBADIAH.  Blacksmith,  of  Boston. 
Went  to  Halifax  in  1776  ;  in  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  ban 
ished.  A  Loyalist  of  the  name  of  Obadiah  Wheaton  died  in 
New  Brunswick,  where  he  had  become  a  resident,  many  years 
ago. 

WHITEHEAD,  BENJAMIN.  A  captain  in  the  militia,  of  Jamaica, 
Long  Island,  New  York.  His  attachment  to  the  royal  cause 
involved  him  in  many  difficulties.  He  died  at  Jamaica  in 
September,  1780,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  A  per 
son  of  this  name,  of  Jamaica,  signed  a  Declaration  against  the 
Whigs,  and  of  attachment  to  the  crown,  in  1775 ;  and  an  ac 
knowledgment  of  allegiance,  in  1776. 

WHITEHEAD,  BENJAMIN,  Junior.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A 
signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty  in  1775.  A  person  of  this 
name  was  a  magistrate  of  Queen's  County  in  1783. 

WHITEHEAD,  JAMES.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

WHITING,  BENJAMIN.  Sheriff  of  Hillsborough  County,  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his  prop 
erty  confiscated. 

WHITING,  WILLIAM.  Of  Virginia.  Went  to  New  Brunswick 
in  1783.  He  died  at  St.  John  in  1830,  aged  seventy-one.  He 
was  among  the  few  Loyalists  of  that  State,  or  of  those  south 
of  it,  who  came  to  the  northern  Colonies. 

WHITLOCK,  JOHN.  In  1782  he  was  an  officer  of  infantry  in 
the  Queen's  Rangers.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  received 
half-pay,  and  was  a  magistrate  of  Queen's  County,  and  a 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  militia. 

WHITLOCK,  THOMAS.  Was  an  officer  in  a  corps  of  Loyalists. 
In  1783  he  settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  the 
grantee  of  a  city  lot.  The  Whitlock  House  built  by  him  in 
Prince  William  street,  was  the  second  framed  building  which 
was  erected  after  the  landing  of  the  Loyalists.  He  received 
half-pay. 

WHITLOCK,  WILLIAM.  Established  his  residence  in  New 
58* 


690  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Brunswick.  Was  an  alderman  of  St.  John,  and  died  in  that 
city  in  1821,  aged  fifty-five. 

WHITLOCK.  Four  of  this  name  belonged  to  the  Reading  As 
sociation.  To  wit :  Hezekiah,  Nehemiah,  and  Ebenezer,  of 
Fairfield  County,  and  Ephraim,  of  Reading.  In  the  Queen's 
Rangers  there  was  a  Lieutenant  Whitlock,  who  probably  be 
longed  to  Connecticut,  since  he  had  "  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  country  about  Nor  walk,"  and  "  proposed  to  burn  the 
whale-boats,  which  harbored  there,  and  had  infested  "  Long 
Island  Sound. 

WHITENECK,  JOHN.  Died  at  Studholm,  King's  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1841,  aged  one  hundred  years. 

WHITMAN,  MICHAEL.  Of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1779. 

WHITNEY,  SYLVANUS.  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  In  June, 
J775,  he  was  arraigned  before  the  Committee  of  that  town, 
charged  with  the  offence  of  buying  and  selling  Tea.  He  made 
a  written  confession  of  the  fact,  delivered  up  the  tea  remain 
ing  in  his  possession,  and  was  allowed  to  depart.  As  the 
reader  may  be  curious  to  learn  how  the  Whigs  sometimes  dis 
posed  of  this  obnoxious  article  of  drink,  the  following  account 
of  the  destruction  of  that  received  of  Mr.  Whitney,  is  here 
given.  "About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  gallows  was 
erected  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  *  *  *  *  A  large  concourse 
of  people  soon  collected,  and  were  joined  by  a  number  of  the 
soldiery  quartered  in  the  town.  A  grand  procession  soon 
began  to  move.  In  the  first  place  a  large  guard  under  arms, 
headed  by  two  captains  who  led  the  van,  with  the  unfor 
tunate  Tea  hung  across  a  pole,  sustained  by  two  unarmed 
soldiers.  Secondly,  followed  the  Committee  of  Observation. 
Thirdly,  the  spectators  who  came  to  see  the  great  sight.  And 
after  parading  through  part  of  the  principal  streets,  with 
drums  beating  and  fifes  playing  a  most  doleful  sound,  they 
came  to  the  gallows,  where  the  common  hangman  soon  per 
formed  his  office,  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  spectators. 
As  it  was  thought  dangerous  to  let  the  said  Tea  hang  all 
night,  for  fear  of  invasion  from  our  tea-lovers,  a  large  bonfire 


OF    AMERICA*    LOYALISTS.  691 

was  made  under  it,  which  soon  reduced  it  to  ashes ;  and,  after 
giving  three  loud  huzzas,  the  people  soon  dispersed  to  their 
respective  homes,  without  any  bad  consequences  attending." 
Mr.  Whitney  was  present  "  during  the  execution,"  adds  the 
writer,  "and  behaved  himself  as  well  as  could  be  expected." 
He  removed  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  at  the  peace,  and 
was  a  magistrate,  and  one  of  the  aldermen  of  that  city.  He 
died  at  St.  John  in  1827,  aged  seventy-nine. 

WHITNEY,  SAMUEL.  He  settled  in  New  Brunswick  after  the 
acknowledgment  of  American  Independence,  and  established 
himself  as  a  merchant.  In  1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  St. 
John  Loyal  Artillery.  He  died  in  that  city  in  1815,  aged 
sixty-one.  His  son,  James  Whitney,  Esquire,  of  St.  John,  is 
the  enterprising  and  well  known  proprietor  of  the  steam  ves 
sels,  which  ply  in  different  parts  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova 
Scotia. 

WHITWORTH,  MILES.  A  physician,  of  Boston.  A  graduate 
of  Harvard  University  in  1772,  and  an  Addresser  of  Hutchin- 
son  in  1774.  In  1776  he  was  arrested  and  confined.  He  died 
in  England. 

WICKES,  THOMAS.  Of  Rhode  Island.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Upper  House  of  the  government  of  that  Colony,  and  in 
April,  1775,  joined  Governor  Wanton,  and  Deputy  Governor 
Sessions,  in  a  Protest  against  a  bill  passed  by  the  Assembly 
for  raising  an  army  of  fifteen  hundred  men.  His  name  ap 
pears  among  the  members  in  the  session  of  May  following, 
but  he  was  not  in  office  at  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in 
June,  and  I  conclude  that  he  had  been  forced  to  retire.  See 
the  notice  of  Joseph  Wanton,  and  of  Darius  Sessions. 

WICKHAM,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  King's  American  Regi 
ment. 

WICKHAM,  PARKER.  Of  New  York.  His  property  was  con 
fiscated  by  act  of  that  State. 

W^IGFALL,  JOHN.  Of  South  Carolina.  After  the  surrender 
of  Charleston  by  General  Lincoln  in  1780,  held  an  office  under 
the  crown.  His  property  was  confiscated. 

WIGGINS,    JOHN,    BENJAMIN,    THOMAS,    and    HENRY.      All    of 


692  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

Jamaica,  New  York.  Signed  a  Declaration  of  Loyalty  at 
that  place  in  1775. 

WIGGINS.  THOMAS,  DANIEL,  BENJAMIN,  and  RICHARD.  Of 
Queen's  County,  New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  Octo 
ber,  1776.  Daniel,  in  1783,  removed  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city. 

WIGGINS,  JACOB.  A  magistrate.  Died  at  Grand  Lake,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1815.  aged  fifty-four. 

WIGGINS,  JOHN.  Died  at  Portland,  New  Brunswick,  in  1815, 
aged  sixty-two. 

WIGGINS,  SAMUEL.  Of  New  York.  Removed  to  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  and  died  in  that  city  in  1821,  aged  sixty-six. 
His  son,  Stephen  Wiggins,  Esquire,  of  St.  John,  is  one  of  the 
most  eminent  merchants  in  New  Brunswick. 

WILBORE,  JOSHUA.  Of  Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  Was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WILBOUR,  WILLIAM.  An  officer  in  a  Loyalist  corps.  In 
1783  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  and  received  half-pay.  He 
died  at  St.  John  in  1838,  aged  eighty-eight. 

WILDRIDGE,  JAMES.  Mariner,  of  Falmouth,  now  Portland, 
Maine.  Was  proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WIGHTMAN.  There  seems  to  have  been  three,  and  probably 
four,  of  this  name  in  the  service.  But  little  is  known  of  them. 
The  Colonel  of  the  Loyal  New  Englanders  was  one,  though 
that  officer's  name  is  sometimes  spelled  Whiteman.  There 
was  a  William  Wightman,  who  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  King's 
American  Regiment ;  a  Lieutenant  John  Wightman  of  a  Loy 
alist  corps,  who  died  at  Carlton,  New  Brunswick,  in  1819, 
aged  seventy-one;  and  a  Captain  Wightman,  who  was  a 
grantee  of  St.  John  in  1783.  I  conclude  that  they  all  belonged 
to  one  family. 

WILKINS,  ISAAC,  D.  D.  Of  New  York.  His  father  was  a 
rich  planter  of  Jamaica,  West  Indies,  and  died  when  he  was 
quite  young.  He  was  sent  to  New  York  to  be  educated,  and 
enjoyed  the  best  advantages  which  the  country  afforded.  He 
prepared  himself  for  the  ministry,  but  did  not  take  orders. 
Having  settled  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  he  was  returned 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  693 

as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  in  which  body  he 
became  a  leader  on  the  ministerial  side.  His  influence  with 
his  associates  and  with  his  party  was  very  great.  Near  the 
close  of  the  session  of  the  Assembly  of  February,  1775,  Colo 
nel  Woodhull  (a  Whig  who  met  a  sad  and  an  early  death,) 
moved  that  the  thanks  of  the  House  should  be  presented  to 
the  delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress  who  met  at  Phila 
delphia  in  September  previously.  The  motion  was  opposed 
and  lost,  Mr.  Wilkins  voting  against  it.  When  the  question 
of  appointing  delegates  to  the  second  Congress  came  up,  he 
made  a  speech,  which  was  much  admired  by  his  friends  for  its 
eloquence,  clearness,  and  precision.  Schuyler,  and  George 
Clinton,  were  his  principal  antagonists  in  the  debate.  As  this 
speech  affords  a  good  specimen  (and  perhaps  the  best  that  has 
been  preserved)  of  the  views  of  the  Loyalists  of  the  state  of 
the  controversy  at  that  period,  I  insert  it  entire,  and  nearly 
verbatim  as  it  was  delivered.  As  a  matter  of  curious  history, 
and  as  the  effort  of  an  able  man,  the  reader  will  be  interested 
in  its  perusal. 

"  Mr.  Speaker:  —  The  subject  now  under  our  consideration 
is  the  most  important,  I  believe,  that  has  ever  come  before 
this  House ;  nothing  less  than  the  welfare,  I  had  almost  said 
the  existence,  of  this  Colony,  and  perhaps  of  all  America, 
depends  upon  the  result  of  our  present  deliberations.  Deeply 
impressed  with  this  idea,  I  rise  with  the  greatest  anxiety  of 
mind  to  deliver  my  sentiments  on  this  occasion.  Whether  they 
are  such  as  this  House  will  think  proper  to  approve,  I  cannot 
tell ;  but  sure  I  am  they  are  such  as  are  dictated  by  an  honest 
heart  —  an  heart  biased  by  no  selfish  or  sinister  motives,  and 
warped  by  no  attachment  to  sect,  persons  or  party.  There 
is  not,  I  am  persuaded,  an  individual  in  this  Assembly,  who 
does  not  wish  well  to  America  in  general,  and  who  is  not  so 
licitous  for  the  preservation  of  this  province  in  particular. 
For  my  own  part,  I  feel  more  real  concern  than  I  can  well 
express,  at  the  gloomy  prospect  of  our  affairs,  and  I  would 
sacrifice  more,  much  more,  than  most  men  would  be  willing 
to  believe,  if  I  could  by  that  means  rescue  my  country  from 


694  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  ruin  and  destruction  that  is  now  ready  to  overwhelm  her. 
The  necessity  of  a  speedy  reconciliation  between  us  and  our 
mother  country,  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  who  is  not 
totally  destitute  of  sense  and  feeling ;  so  that  there  can  be  no 
dispute  now,  I  presume,  but  about  the  means  of  accomplish 
ing  it.  Before  I  give  my  opinion,  however,  upon  this  matter, 
I  must  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  House,  while  I  exhibit  a 
short  view  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  our  present  disturbances 
in  America. 

"  Ever  since  the  first  settlement  of  these  Colonies,  Great 
Britain  has  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  of  jurisdiction 
over  them,  and  her  claim  was  founded  in  reason,  and  in  the 
nature  of  civil  government ;  for  it  is  certain  beyond  all  man 
ner  of  doubt  and  controversy,  that  the  supreme  authority  of 
every  empire  must  extend  over  the  whole  and  every  part  of 
that  empire,  otherwise  there  must  be  imperium  in  imperiot 
two  absolute  and  distinct  powers  in  one  and  the  same  govern 
ment,  which  is  impossible ;  and  consequently  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  British  empire,  which  is  vested  in  the  King, 
Lords,  arid  Commons,  must  extend  over  these  Colonies,  which 
are  a  part  of  the  British  empire.  This  authority  was  never 
disputed  by  the  Colonies  till  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and 
then  no  farther  than  as  to  the  right  of  imposing  internal  taxes; 
for  the  right  of  regulating  trade,  and  of  imposing  duties  upon 
articles  of  commerce,  was  universally  acknowledged  as  essen 
tial  to  the  supremacy  of  the  British  Parliament.  Their  right 
of  internal  taxation  over  the  Colonies,  was  by  the  Americans 
opposed  upon  this  principle,  that  it  was  contrary  to  one  of  the 
fundamentals  of  our  free  Constitution,  which  forbids  the  tak 
ing  of  the  subjects'  money  without  their  consent,  given  either 
personally  or  by  their  representatives.  This  power  of  dispos 
ing  of  their  property,  they  imagined  and  asserted  was  lodged 
in  their  Provincial  Legislatures  only.  Be  that  as  it  will,  this 
was  certainly  placing  their  liberty  upon  a  proper  basis  :  here 
they  ought  to  have  rested  ;  here  they  ought  to  have  bounded 
their  demands ;  this  would  have  been  a  sufficient  barrier 
against  arbitrary  power.  The  Parliament,  in  consequence  of 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  695 

this,  although  they  did  not  relinquish  their  claim  or  right  to 
tax  the  Colonies,  repealed  that  impolitic  and  oppressive  act ; 
and  although  they  afterwards  imposed  duties  on  paper,  glass, 
paints,  colors,  &c.,  yet  those  also,  in  compliance  with  our  de 
mands,  were  taken  off:  so  indulgent  has  our  mother  country 
been  to  the  claims  and  humors  of  her  children.  This  comply 
ing  disposition,  however,  in  her.  so  far  from  exciting  our  grati 
tude,  or  satisfying  our  uneasiness  and  discontent,  has  only 
emboldened  us  to  make  farther  encroachments  upon  her  au 
thority.  We  foolishly  attributed  this  gentle  conduct  towards 
us  to  fear,  and  to  a  consciousness  of  her  inability  to  compel  us 
to  submission.  And  when  a  three  penny  duty  on  tea  was 
demanded  of  us,  we  peremptorily  refused  to  comply ;  and  in 
stead  of  expostulating,  or  of  showing  our  disapprobation  of 
that  act,  by  remonstrating  in  a  legal  and  constitutional  way, 
as  we  ought  to  have  done;  or  instead  of  taking  that  easy  and 
effectual  method  that  offered  itself  to  us,  —  I  mean  the  not 
purchasing  that  commodity,  while  encumbered  with  the  duty, 
—  we  flew  into  the  most  indecent  rage,  and  hastily  adopted 
every  unwarrantable  measure  that  could  irritate  and  provoke 
the  government ;  we  either  destroyed  or  sent  back,  in  a  most 
contemptuous  manner,  all  the  tea  that  entered  our  harbors; 
we  insulted  her  ministers,  and  absolutely  denied  her  au 
thority. 

"  The  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  the  foremost  and 
the  most  violent  in  this  opposition,  and  chastisement  followed 
close  upon  the  transgression,  which,  though  the  mildest  that 
could  possibly  have  been  inflicted,  considering  the  nature  of 
the  offence,  has  kindled  such  a  flame  through  the  whole  conti 
nent  of  America,  as  threatens  universal  devastation.  The 
Colonies,  instead  of  endeavoring  to  extinguish  it,  are  increas 
ing  its  violence;  instead  of  striving  to  restore  peace  and  good 
harmony,  so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  both  countries,  are 
using  every  possible  means  to  widen  the  breach  and  make  it 
irreparable.  Good  God  !  that  we  should  be  so  void  of  com 
mon  sense  !  that  we  should  be  so  blind  to  our  own  happiness  ! 
What  advantage,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  can  we  propose  to 


696  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

ourselves,  in  being  at  enmity  with  Great  Britain?  Shall  we 
by  this  means  become  more  powerful,  more  wealthy,  or  more 
free  ?  Let  us  pause  for  a  moment,  and  reflect  a  little  upon  the 
absurdity  and  folly  of  such  expectations.  On  the  contrary, 
shall  we  not  derive  every  desirable  advantage  from  being  in 
friendship  and  amity  with  her  ?  Shall  we  not  derive  strength, 
protection  and  stability,  from  that  oak  around  which  we  have 
so  long  twined  ourselves,  and  under  the  shadow  of  whose 
branches  we  have  so  long  flourished,  in  security  ? 

"  Permit  me  to  carry  on  this  allusion.  We  are  a  vigorous 
and  fertile  vine;  but  without  some  prop,  without  some  sufficient 
support,  we  shall  only  trail  upon  the  ground,  and  be  liable  to 
injury  and  destruction  from  the  foot  of  every  passenger.  But 
if  Great  Britain  gives  us  her  protection;  if  she  cultivates  us 
with  tenderness  and  care,  we  shall  yield  her  a  rich  and  plenti 
ful  vintage,  as  necessary  to  her  welfare  and  prosperity,  as  her 
support  is  to  our  existence.  In  this  mutual  relation  do  we 
stand  to  each  other.  Let  us  therefore,  like  wise  men,  endeavor 
to  establish  a  lasting  and  permanent  union  between  us  ;  let  us 
endeavor  to  remove  every  obstacle  to  this  desirable  end  ;  and 
let  us  reject  with  the  utmost  disdain  and  abhorrence  every 
measure  that  can  tend  to  increase  the  difference  between  us, 
and  make  this  necessary  union  impracticable.  Let  us  there 
fore,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  endeavor  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
illegal  and  disorderly  proceedings  and  resolutions  of  commit 
tees,  associations,  and  congresses.  They  have  already  driven 
this  Colony  to  the  brink  of  a  precipice ;  some  of  our  sister 
Colonies  (I  speak  it  with  the  deepest  concern,)  have  already 
taken  the  desperate  plunge,  and  unless  the  clemency  of  Great 
Britain  shall  work  a  miracle  in  their  favor,  I  know  not  how 
they  will  escape  perdition.  Let  us*  be  warned  by  their  exam 
ple  ;  let  their  folly  and  precipitation  teach  us  wisdom ;  and, 
instead  of  linking  ourselves  to  the  chain  of  their  evil  destiny, 
let  us  instantly  break  loose,  and,  by  a  well-timed  effort,  rescue 
ourselves  from  destruction,  and  endeavor  to  make  peace  for 
ourselves,  — not  a  shameful,  not  an  ignominious  peace,  — but 
such  an  one  as  shall  be  worthy  of  freemen  ;  such  an  one  as  will 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  697 

secure  to  us  our  liberties  and  properties,  and  render  the  union 
between  us  and  our  mother  country  permanent  and  lasting  • 
in  short,  such  as  will  be  worthy  Great  Britain  to  offer,  and 
Americans  to  receive. 

"  And  here  let  it  not  be  said  that  it  will  be  a  base  desertion 
of  our  sister  Colonies,  to  withdraw  our  assistance  from  them 
when  in  so  critical  and  dangerous  a  situation.     But  let  it  be 
remembered  that  Great  Britain  is  our  mother,  —  a  kind  and 
indulgent  mother,  who  hath  nourished,  protected,  and  estab 
lished  us  in  this  land  of  Canaan,  this  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,  —  a  mother,  whose  arms  are  open  to  receive  all 
such  of  her  children  as  will  return  to  their  duty ;  who  is  will 
ing  to  hear  their  complaints,  and  to  redress  their  grievances. 
And  shall  we  take  part  against  such  a  parent?     Shall  we, 
like  detestable  parricides,  wound  her  bosom  for  the  sake  of 
ungrateful  brethren,  who  have  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  both  to 
their  interest  and  their  duty,  and  who  are  obstinately  bent  upon 
their  own  destruction?     Surely  we  cannot.     No,  I  am  per 
suaded  there  is  not  an  individual  in  this  House  who  would 
not  reject  such  a  proposal  with  the  utmost  abhorrence.     We 
have  too  much  understanding  not  to  know  that  the  interest 
of  these  Colonies  and  of  Great  Britain  is  the  same ;    that  we 
are  all  one  people — of  the  same  laws,  language  and  religion, 
each  of  us  equally  bound  to  one  another  by  the  ties  of  reciprocal 
affection  ;  and  we  have  too  much  loyalty  to  the  best  of  sove 
reigns —  too  great  a  regard  to  order  and  good  government,  to 
assert  that  insurrections  and  tumults  in  one  Colony,  can  or  ought 
to  justify  them  in  another.     Indeed,  so  far  am  I  from  thinking 
that  this  conduct  in  us  would  be  deserving  the  common  cause 
of  the  Colonies,  that  I  am  convinced  it  is  the  only  expedient 
left,  by  which  we  can  in  any  measure  promote  their  real  and 
true  interest.     By  uniting  with  them,  we  shall  in  probability 
sink  with  them,  but  by  rending  ourselves  from  the  rash  and 
ill-judged  combination  in  which  they  have  engaged,  while  we 
are  doing  good  to   ourselves,  we  may  do  good  also  to  them. 
We  may  have  it  in  our  power,  as  I  know  we  shall  have  it  in 
59 


698  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

our  will,  to  stretch  out  an  helping  hand  to  raise  them  from  the 
pit  into  which  they  are  falling.  And  I  will  venture  to  assert 
with  boldness  >and  confidence,  that  if  this  Loyal  Province  will 
do  her  duty,  and  act  with  wisdom  and  moderation  in  the  criti 
cal  juncture,  she  may  yet  save  America. 

"Great  Britain  is  not  the  only  quarter  from  whence  danger  is 
to  be  apprehended.  Her  resentment,  no  doubt,  is  to  be  dreaded, 
and  it  behoves  us,  if  possible,  to  avert  it ;  she  may  destroy  our 
cities  ;  she  may  ruin  our  commerce ;  she  may  reduce  us  to  so 
deplorable  a  condition  that  we  shall  be  willing  to  accept  of 
peace  and  reconciliation  upon  any  terms  which  she  shall  think 
proper  to  impose.  This  is  what  she  may  do,  and  what  most 
probably  she  will  do,  unless  we  alter  the  mode  of  our  conduct 
towards  her.  But  if  she  should  think  proper  to  decline  the 
contest ;  if  in  her  wrath  she  should  give  us  up  to  our  own 
direction,  arid  leave  us  to  cut  and  shuffle  for  ourselves,  and  to 
settle  our  boundaries,  and  to  appoint  our  forms  of  government, 
deeper  and  more  terrible  scenes  of  distress  will  present  them 
selves  to  our  view.  Fain  would  I  draw  a  veil  over  this  mel 
ancholy  prospect,  and  hide  it  from  the  eye  of  humanity ;  but 
my  duty  to  my  family  —  to  my  constituents  —  to  my  country, 
forbids  me  to  be  silent.  Factions  and  animosities  will  lay  waste 
our  country.  Provinces  will  rise  against  Provinces,  and  no 
umpire  to  determine  the  contest  but  the  sword.  This  once 
flourishing  and  happy  land  will  smile  no  more;  it  will  become 
a  field  of  blood,  and  a  scene  of  terror  and  desolation.  To  such 
calamities  shall  we  awake  from  our  dreams  of  independence, 
and  to  such  miseries  will  our  unreasonable  love  of  liberty  lead 
us.  Let  us,  therefore,  moderate  a  little  the  eagerness  of  our 
dispute,  and  not  prostitute  this  noblest  and  best  principle  of 
the  human  heart,  to  the  unworthy  purposes  of  sedition  and 
rebellion. 

"  The  Americans  love  liberty,  'tis  their  grand,  their  darling 
object,  and  may  they  ever  have  virtue  and  spirit  enough  to 
assert  and  defend  it,  as  well  as  wisdom  and  prudence  to  enjoy  it. 
But  that  love  of  liberty  which  beats  so  strongly  in  our  hearts, 


OFMMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  699 

and  which  seems  to  animate  and  inspirit  almost  every  individ 
ual,  if  not  carefully  watched  and  attended  to,  will,  on  some 
future  day,  (should  we  be  so  fortunate  as  to  escape  our  present 
danger)  prove  a  dreadful  source  of  misfortune  to  us,  if  not  our 
ruin.  Liberty  and  licentiousness  are  nearly  allied  to  each 
other ;  like  wit  and  madness,  there  is  but  a  thin  partition  be 
tween  them ;  and  licentiousness  invariably  leads  to  slavery. 
Almost  every  page  of  history  will  furnish  abundant  proofs  of 
the  truths  of  these  observations;  and  God  grant  that  the  annals 
of  this  country  may  riot  add  to  the  number ;  but  I  fear  from 
the  present  licentious  conduct,  we  are  much  nearer  to  a  state  of 
slavery  and  oppression  than  we  seem  to  be  aware  of.  So  far 
already  have  we  advanced  towards  it,  that  all  internal  order  and 
subordination  is  nearly  at  an  end  among  us.  The  authority  of 
the  civil  magistrate  is  become  useless,  and  almost  contempti 
ble  ;  even  the  authority  of  this  House,  nay,  of  the  whole  Legis 
lative  body  of  this  Province,  has  been  treated  with  the  utmost 
contempt,  and  our  power  in  a  manner  wrested  from  us,  by  a 
set  of  men  who  have  arrogated  to  themselves  the  style  of  the 
People's  Representatives.  If  they  are  in  reality  such,  to  what 
purpose  are  we  here  assembled  ?  If  they  are  authorized  to  make 
laws,  to  establish  penalties,  and  to  regulate  the  concerns  of 
this  Colony,  why  are  we  called  together?  What  is  left  for  us 
to  do?  Nothing,  sir,  but  to  do  our  duty;  to  undo,  if  possible, 
all  that  they  have  done ;  to  strip  them  of  their  borrowed 
plumes,  and  to  resume  that  authority,  which  has  been  delega 
ted  to  us  for  the  most  important  purposes ;  for  the  preservation 
of  liberty,  order,  and  good  government.  We  are  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony  ;  they  have  entrusted 
us  with  the  guardianship  of  their  rights  and  liberties,  and  they 
look  up  to  us  for  the  preservation  of  them.  Let  us,  therefore, 
act  as  becomes  us,  with  firmness  and  resolution.  The  eyes  of 
all  honest  and  good  rnen  are  upon  us  ;  their  hopes,  their  expec 
tations  of  peace  and  safety,  under  Heaven,  are  centred  here. 
Let  us  not  disappoint  their  hopes,  but  let  us  lay  aside  every 
prejudice ;  let  us  suppress  every  passion  and  sentiment  that 


700 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


can  interfere  with  our  country's  welfare,  and  let  us  unite  with 
one  voice  arid  one  mind,  to  save  her  from  destruction. 

"We  have  this  day  before  us  the  choice  either  of  peace  or 
war;  of  happiness  or  misery;  of  freedom  or  slavery;  and 
surely  we  cannot  hesitate  a  moment  which  to  choose.  By  pro 
ceeding  in  a  firm,  but  in  a  peaceable,  loyal,  and  constitutional 
manner,  in  the  settlement  of  this  unhappy  difference  with  our 
mother  country,  we  cannot  fail,  I  am  convinced,  of  meeting 
with  all  desirable  success.  We  shall  by  these  means,  undoubt 
edly  secure  to  ourselves  a  free  constitution ;  we  shall  have  a 
line  of  government  stretched  out  and  ascertained,  and  we  shall 
be  restored  to  the  favor  and  protection  of  the  parent  state, 
which,  next  to  the  favor  and  protection  of  Heaven,  will  be  our 
best  and  strongest  safeguard  and  security.  But  if  you  listen 
to  the  dictates  of  violent  and  enthusiastic  men ;  if  you  adopt 
the  ill-judged,  tyrannical,  and  destructive  measures  of  the  Con 
gress,  where  will  your  miseries  end  ?  Where,  indeed,  I  cannot 
tell ;  but  from  that  moment  you  must  date  the  commencement 
of  them ;  from  that  moment  be  assured  that  your  ruin  is  inev 
itable.  NOAV  is  the  critical  moment  of  our  fate  ;  we  have  it  now 
in  our  power  to  do  the  most  essential  good,  or  the  most  essential 
mischief  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  If  we  neglect  this 
opportunity  of  promoting  our  common  felicity,  and  of  estab 
lishing  our  liberties  upon  a  firm  and  lasting  basis,  we  may, 
perhaps,  never  have  another,  and  we  shall  repent  of  our  fatal 
infatuation  and  folly,  when  too  late  to  retrieve  the  mistake ; 
when  the  horrors  and  miseries  of  a  civil  war  shall  be  increased, 
if  possible,  tenfold  upon  our  heads,  by  the  curses  and  execra 
tion  of  our  distracted  and  deluded  constituents ;  when  all 
orders  and  degrees  of  men  shall,  in  the  bitterness  of  their 
hearts,  point  us  out  as  the  authors  of  their  ruin ;  when  we 
shall  be  obliged  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  conquest,  or  the  pen 
alties  of  rebellion. 

"I  have  now,  sir,  delivered  my  sentiments  freely  and  candid 
ly  upon  the  subject  of  our  consideration.  I  have  shown  that  the 
rise  of  our  present  disputes  with  Great  Britain  has  been  an 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  701 

unreasonable  jealousy  on  our  part,  originating  from  an  impol 
itic  exertion  of  authority  on  hers.  I  have  proved  that  it  is 
both  our  interest  and  our  duty  to  cultivate  the  closest  and  most 
intimate  union  with  her.  I  have  shown  that  the  authority  of 
the  British  Parliament,  which  is  the  supreme  Legislature  of 
the  empire,  extends  over  these  Colonies,  which  are  parts  of 
that  empire.  I  have  shown  the  extreme  danger  of  undue 
opposition  to  that  authority,  which,  either  by  exerting  itself 
against  us,  or  giving  us  up  to  our  own  government,  will  equally 
involve  us  in  misery  and  destruction.  I  have  shown,  that  by 
a  peaceable  and  loyal  conduct,  we  may  procure  for  ourselves, 
and  perhaps  for  our  sister  Colonies,  a  more  perfect  system  of 
government  than  that  which  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed,  which 
was  indeed  better  calculated  for  our  infant  state,  than  for  the 
present  period  of  our  present  maturity  —  a  period  that  requires, 
(however  paradoxical  it  may  seem)  at  the  same  time  more 
liberty  and  a  stricter  government.  I  have,  therefore,  Mr. 
Speaker,  nothing  more  to  add,  than  that,  if  contrary  to  my 
hopes  and  my  most  ardent  wishes  —  if,  contrary  to  the  honor 
and  dignity  of  this  House  —  if,  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  hu 
manity,  and  to  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  constituents  and 
our  country,  you  adopt  the  unjust  and  destructive  measures  of 
the  Congress,  and  by  that  means  involve  our  country  in  a  civil 
war,  the  most  dreadful  calamity  that  can  befall  a  people,  I 
hereby  declare  my  honest  indignation  to  that  measure,  and 
now  call  Heaven  and  this  House  to  witness,  that  I  am  guiltless 
of  the  blood  of  my  fellow-subjects  that  will  be  shed  upon  the 
occasion.  I  am  guiltless  of  the  ruin  of  my  country." 

That  this  speech  was  sufficiently  loyal,  and  quite  ardent 
enough  for  the  occasion,  need  not  be  said.  A  criticism  of  it 
is  not  necessary.  Yet  it  may  be  remarked,  that  Mr.  Wilkins' 
approval  of  the  act  for  shutting  up  Boston,  (the  Boston  Port 
Bill,)  and  his  declaration  in  the  other  passage  which  I  have 
marked,  show  to  what  extent  a  man  of  pure  life  and  well  in 
formed  mind,  could  allow  his  feelings  to  carry  him,  though 
uttering  at  the  same  moment  a  disclaimer  of  being  "warped" 
59* 


702  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

by  "  attachment  to  sect,  persons,  or  party."  In  the  one  case 
he  sanctioned,  in  terms,  an  act  of  Parliament,  which  involved 
in  the  most  wanton  misery  thousands  of  persons  who  had  no 
possible  agency  in  the  deeds  which  it  was  meant  to  punish, 
and  even  expressed  his  conviction,  that  it  was  the  "mildest 
that  could  possibly  have  been  inflicted,  considering  the  nature 
of  the  offence;"  and  in  the  other,  by  assuming  that  "the  eyes 
of  all  honest  and  good  men  "  were  fixed  upon  the  Assembly,  as 
distinguished  from  "the  Congress,"  and  looked  to  the  former 
body  only,  he  distinctly  conveyed  the  opinion  that  no  "honest 
or  good  man  "  was  a  Whig.  He  claimed  himself,  to  act  from 
"  an  honest  heart ;  "  was  not  his  charity  wide  enough  to  allow 
that,  among  his  opponents,  there  were  some  whose  motives 
were  as  "honest"  as  his  own? 

Mr.  Wilkins's  zeal  and  extreme  loyalty  rendered  him  very 
obnoxious  to  the  Whigs.  Besides  his  prominent  position  in  the 
Assembly,  he  gave  utterance  to  his  thoughts  in  essays.  It  is  a 
singular  circumstance,  that  the  youthful  Hamilton,  who  was 
also  born  in  the  West  Indies,  undertook  the  task  of  replying  to 
two  of  his  political  effusions.  One  of  them,  The  Congress 
Canvassed,  &c.,  which  was  signed  A.  W.  Farmer,  was  ex 
tensively  circulated ;  and  as  well  as  that  called,  A  View  of  the 
Controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  was 
summarily  disposed  of,  whenever  they  fell  into  the  hands  of 
those  whose  measures  they  criticised  and  condemned.  Both 
were  burned  in  all  parts  of  the  country;  and  on  some  occasions, 
the  former  was  dressed  in  tar  and  turkey-buzzard's  feathers. 
The  plumage  of  this  bird  was  selected  as  being  "  the  most 
stinking  fowl  in  creation,"  though  failing  to  be  "a  fit  emblem 
of  the  author's  odiousness ;  "  but  yet,  as  he  could  not  be  found, 
"  to  receive  a  suit  of  the  same  gorgeous  apparel,"  his  book  was 
"thus  decorated,  nailed  to  the  whipping-post,  and  set  on  fire," 
as  the  best  means  of  showing  indignation  of  his  person  and 
sentiments.  A  few  months  after  the  delivery  of  the  speech 
above  quoted,  he  abandoned  the  country,  and  went  to  Eng 
land.  At  the  moment  of  his  departure,  he  issued  the  following 
Address :  — 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  703 

"  New  York,  May  3,  1775. 

"  My  Countrymen :  —  Before  I  leave  America,  the  land  I 
love,  and  in  which  is  contained  every  thing  that  is  valuable 
and  dear  to  me  —  my  wife,  my  children,  my  friends  and  prop 
erty —  permit  me  to  make  a  short  and  faithful  declaration, 
which  1  am  induced  to  do  neither  through  fear,  nor  a  con 
sciousness  of  having  acted  wrong.  An  honest  man  and  a 
Christian  hath  nothing  to  apprehend  from  this  world.  God  is 
my  judge,  and  God  is  my  witness,  that  all  I  have  done,  written 
or  said,  in  relation  to  the  present  unnatural  dispute  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  proceeded  from  an  honest 
intention  of  serving  my  country.  Her  welfare  and  prosperity 
were  the  objects  towards  which  all  my  endeavors  have  been 
directed.  They  are  still  the  sacred  objects  which  I  shall  ever 
steadily  and  invariably  keep  in  view.  And  when  in  England, 
all  the  influence  that  so  inconsiderable  a  man  as  I  am  can  have, 
shall  be  exerted  in  her  behalf. 

"It  has  been  my  constant  maxim  through  life  to  do  my  duty 
conscientiously,  and  to  trust  the  issue  of  my  actions  to  the 
Almighty.  May  that  God,  in  whose  hands  are  all  events, 
speedily  restore  peace  and  liberty  to  my  unhappy  country. 
May  Great  Britain  and  America  be  soon  united  in  the  bonds  of 
everlasting  unity,  and  when  united,  may  they  continue  a  free, 
a  virtuous  and  happy  nation  to  the  end  of  time.  I  leave  Amer 
ica,  and  every  endearing  connexion,  because  I  will  not  raise 
my  hand  against  my  Sovereign,  nor  will  I  draw  my  sword 
against  my  country ;  when  I  can  conscientiously  draw  it  in 
her  favor,  my  life  shall  be  cheerfully  devoted  to  her  service. 

"ISAAC  WILKINS." 

In  1776  he  returned  to  Long  Island,  where  he  remained 
until  the  peace,  when  he  retired  to  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia. 
He  remained  in  Nova  Scotia  several  years,  and  lived  a  part  of 
the  time  at  Lunenburgh.  About  the  year  1800,  he  again  es 
tablished  his  residence  in  Westchester  County,  New  York,  and 
was  settled  over  the  Episcopal  parish  there.  He  continued  in 
the  ministry  until  his  decease  in  1830,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine. 


704  BIOGRAPHICAL     SKETCHES 

He  wrote  the  following  epitaph  a  short  time  previous  to  his 
death :  — 

SACRED 

To  the  memory  of 

THE  REVEREND  ISAAC  WILKINS,  D.  D., 

who  for  thirty-one  years  was  the 

diligent  and  faithful  minister  of 

this  parish, 
placed  here,  as  he  believed,  by  his  Redeemer. 

He  remained  satisfied  with  the 

pittance  allowed  him,  rejoicing  that  even  in  that 

he  was  no  burden  to  his 

parishioners ; 

nor  ever  wished  nor  ever  went  forth 
Jo  seek  a  better  living. 

Doctor  Wilkins  married  Isabella,  sister  of  Lewis  Morris,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,  another  distinguished  Whig.  Their  mother  espoused 
the  royal  side,  and  remained  within  the  British  lines ;  their 
correspondence  with  her,  during  hostilities,  occasioned  suspicion, 
and  caused  them  difficulty,  notwithstanding  their  sacrifices  and 
services.  At  the  moment  when  Lewis  voted  in  Congress  for  In 
dependence,  British  ships  of  war  were  lying  within  cannon  shot 
of  his  house ;  and  soon  after,  his  manor  of  Morrisania  was 
desolated,  his  woodland  of  one  thousand  acres  destroyed,  and 
his  family  driven  into  exile.  Three  of  the  sons  of  Lewis  served 
in  the  Whig  army.  Staats,  brother  of  Lewis  and  Gouverneur, 
was  an  officer  in  the  royal  service ;  became  a  member  of  par 
liament,  and  a  lieutenant-general.  Thus  was  the  Morris  fam 
ily  divided. 

Doctor  Wilkins  has  a  son  in  Nova  Scotia,  who  bears  the 
name  of  his  uncle,  Lewis  Morris,  and  who  has  obtained  dis 
tinction.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly 
about  the  time  of  his  father's  return  to  the  United  States;  and 
when,  in  1806,  William  Cottarn  Tonge,  Esquire,  who  was 
elected  Speaker,  was  disallowed  by  the  Governor,  Lewis  Morris 
Wilkins  was  chosen  in  his  place,  and  approved  of,  and  occupied 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  705 

the  chair,  by  subsequent  elections,  until  1817,  when  he  was 
removed  to  be  placed  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  Colony.  Judge  Wilkins  resides  at  Windsor. 

WILLAKD,  ABEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  University  in  1752.  In  1774  he  was  one  of  the  barristers 
and  attornies  who  were  Addressers  of  Hutchinson.  In  1776 
he  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax.  In  1778  he  was 
proscribed  and  banished.  He  died  in  England  in  1781.  Eliza, 
his  widow,  daughter  of  Reverend  Daniel  Rogers,  died  in 
Boston  in  1815. 

WILLARD,  ABIJAH.  Of  Lancaster,  Massachusetts.  In  1774 
he  was  appointed  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  and  was  soon  an 
object  of  public  indignation.  While  at  Union,  Connecticut, 
in  that  year,  he  was  seized  and  confined  over  night.  In  the 
morning,  the  multitude  who  guarded  him,  consisting  of  about 
five  hundred  persons,  condemned  him  to  go  to  prison,  but  after 
carrying  him  six  miles  on  the  way  thither,  released  him  on  his 
signing  a  Declaration,  which  they  dictated,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Whereas  I,  Abijah  Willard,  of  Lancaster,  have  been  ap 
pointed,  by  Mandamus,  a  Councillor  for  this  Province,  and 
having  without  due  consideration  taken  the  oath,  do  now 
freely  and  solemnly  declare,  that  I  am  heartily  sorry  that  I 
have  taken  said  oath,  and  do  hereby  solemnly  and  in  good 
faith  promise  and  engage  that  I  will  not  sit  or  act  in  said 
Council,  nor  in  any  other  that  shall  be  appointed  in  such  man 
ner  and  form,  but  that  I  will,  as  much  as  in  me  lies,  maintain 
the  Charter  rights  and  liberties  of  this  province  ;  and  do  hereby 
ask  the  'forgiveness  of  all  honest,  worthy  gentlemen  that  I 
have  offended,  by  taking  the  above  said  oath  ;  and  desire  this 
may  be  inserted  in  the  public  prints. 

"Witness  my  hand, 

"ABIJAH  WILLARD." 

"  August  25th,  1774." 

He  went  to  Halifax  with  the  royal  army  in  1776 ;  and  in 
1778  was  proscribed  and  banished.  He  was  at  Long  Island  at 


706  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

a  subsequent  period  of  the  war ;  and  in  July,  1783,  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  where  he,  and  fifty-four  other  Loyalists,  joined 
in  a  petition  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton  for  extensive  grants  of  lands 
in  Nova  Scotia.  These  petitioners  were,  and  still  are  known, 
as  the  Fifty-Five.  They  represented,  that  their  position  in 
society  had  beeii  very  respectable,  and  that  previous  to  the 
Revolution  they  had  possessed  much  influence.  They  stated, 
that  they  intended  to  remove  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  desired  that 
the  same  number  of  acres  that  were  granted  to  field-officers  of 
the  army,  might  be  granted  to  each  of  them.  And  they  asked, 
that,  if  possible,  the  lands  should  be  conveyed  free  from  quit- 
rents,  and  from  other  incumbrances.  This  petition  created 
much  clamor  at  New  York,  and  a  copy  of  it  having  been  sent 
to  St.  John  and  printed,  created  an  excitement  there.  Mr. 
Willard  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  on  the  coast  between  the 
St.  Croix  and  St.  John,  and  at  a  place  which  he  called  Lan 
caster —  the  name  by  which  it  is  still  known.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  that  Colony.  He  died  in  1789, 
aged  sixty-seven.  After  his  decease,  his  family  returned  to 
Massachusetts.  He  could  have  had  the  commission  of  colonel 
in  the  royal  service,  but  would  not  bear  arms  against  his  coun 
try.  It  is  believed  that  Colonel  Prescott,  who  commanded  the 
Whig  force  in  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  was  a  connexion,  and 
his  brother-in-law.  It  is  said,  that  Mr.  Willard,  on  the  day  of 
the  action,  was  in  company  with  one  of  the  British  Generals 
in  Boston,  who  from  one  of  the  hills,  and  with  a  spy-glass, 
watched  the  movements  of  the  rebels  in  their  intrenchment ; 
and  that  the  Briton  asked  Willard  if  they  would  fight.  The 
latter,  after  a  survey  through  the  glass,  and  after  recognizing 
Prescott,  replied,  that  he  would  not  answer  for  his  men :  but, 
said  he,  "  Prescott  will  fight  you  to  the  gates  of  h — 1." 

WILLARD,  JOHN.     Of  South  Carolina.     Estate  confiscated. 

WILLARD,  LEVI.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished. 

WILLARD,  SOLOMON.  Of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  pro 
scribed  and  banished  in  1778.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  was  a  grantee  of  the  city,  and  became 
a  merchant. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  707 

WILLET,  GILBERT  COLEURN.  A  magistrate,  of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  In  1776  he  signed  a  profession  of  loyalty  and 
allegiance.  He  entered  the  royal  service,  and  was  a  captain  in 
De  Lancey's  Third  Battalion. 

WILLET,  GILBERT  GOLDEN.  A  captain  in  De  Lancey's  Third 
Battalion. 

WILLET,  SAMUEL.  A  cornet  of  cavalry  in  the  British  Legion. 
He  settled  in  Nova  Scotia  after  the  Revolution,  and  received 
half-pay.  He  died  at  Wilmot,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1839,  aged 
eighty-seven. 

WILLET,  WALTER.  A  lieutenant  of  cavalry  in  the  British 
Legion. 

WILLETS,  CHARLES  and  EDWARD.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  In  1777 
Edward  was  appointed  to  inspect  and  give  certificates  of  the 
wood  provided  for  the  use  of  the  guard  house  and  hospital  of 
the  royal  forces  stationed  at  Jamaica. 

WILLETS,  THOMAS.  Sheriff  of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
Was  apprehended  by  the  Whigs  in  1776 ;  in  1780  he  was  an 
Addresser  of  Governor  Robertson. 

WILLIS,  DAVID.  Mariner,  of  Boston.  Was  proscribed  and 
banished  in  1778.  He  went  to  Halifax  in  1776. 

WILLIS,  JOHN.  An  ensign  in  the  second  battalion  of  New 
Jersey  Volunteers. 

WILLIS,  JOHN.     An  ensign  in  the  Royal  Garrison  Battalion. 

WILLIS,  OLIVER,  MORDECAI,  and  W.  Of  Queen's  County, 
New  York.  Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776. 

WILLIAMS,  ELIJAH.  Of  New  Hampshire.  A  lawyer,  at  Keene ; 
but  abandoned  his  practice  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 
He  was  proscribed  and  banished,  and  his  estate  confiscated, 
under  the  acts  of  New  Hampshire. 

WILLIAMS,  ELIJAH.  Attorney  at  Law,  of  Deerfield,  Massa 
chusetts.  Graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1764.  He 
entered  the  British  army  soon  after  the  affair  at  Lexington, 
and  was  proscribed  under  the  act  of  1778.  He  returned  in 
1784,  and  received  half-pay  during  life.  He  died  in  1793, 
aged  forty-seven  years. 


708  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WILLIAMS,  ISRAEL.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  was  long  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  in  1774  was 
appointed  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  but  declined  serving. 
Though  old  and  infirm,  he  was  visited  by  a  mob  at  night, 
taken  from  his  house,  carried  several  miles,  and  put  into 
a  room  with  a  fire,  when  the  doors  and  the  top  of  the  chimney 
were  closed,  and  he  was  kept  several  hours  in  the  smoke.  On 
being  released,  he  was  compelled  to  sign  a  paper  dictated  by 
his  tormenters.  The  circumstance  did  not  escape  TrumbuU's 
caustic  pen  ;  and  he  asks,  in  McFingal, 

"  Have  you  made  Murray  look  less  big, 
Or  smoked  old  Williams  to  a  Whig  ?  " 

Mr.  Williams  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University,  of  the 
class  of  1727.  He  died  in  1788,  aged  seventy-nine. 

WILLIAMS,  JOHN.  Inspector  General  of  the  Customs,  and 
resided  at  Boston.  When  Hancock's  sloop  was  seized  in  1768, 
the  mob  broke  several  windows  in  his  house,  which  was  near 
the  Common. 

WILLIAMS,  ROBERT.  Was  banished  and  attainted,  and  his 
estate  was  confiscated.  In  1794  he  resided  in  England,  and  in 
that  year  petitioned  the  British  government  to  interfere  for  the 
recovery  of  some  large  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the  time 
of  his  banishment. 

WILLIAMS,  SETH.  Of  Taunton,  Massachusetts.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  University  in  1765.  In  1776  he  went  to  Hal 
ifax  ;  thence  to  England,  and  was  in  London  in  1779,  a 
member  of  the  Loyalist  Association  formed  there,  and  an  Ad 
dresser  of  the  king.  He  died  in  London  prior  to  1791. 

WILLIAMS,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1729.  In  1771  he  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Hutchinson 
speaks  of  him  as  one  of  the  government  members,  "  who,  in 
common  times,  would  have  had  great  weight,"  but  who,  over 
borne  by  the  superior  numbers  of  the  Whigs,  were  inactive. 
Mr.  Williams  was  subsequently  an  officer  in  the  military  ser 
vice  of  the  crown.  He  died  in  1785,  aged  eighty -three. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  709 

WILLIAMS,  ELIJAH.  Of  New  Hampshire.  Was  proscribed 
and  banished,  and  lost  his  estate  under  the  confiscation  act. 
There  was  a  Lieutenant  Williams  in  the  New  Hampshire  Regi 
ment,  or  Wentworth's  Volunteers ;  probably  the  same. 

WILLIAMS.  In  Connecticut  was  Benjamin,  of  Fairfield 
County,  and  Ebenezer,  of  Reading,  who  were  members  of 
the  Reading  Association. 

WILLIAMS.  In  New  York,  were  Isaac,  John,  and  Gilbert,  of 
Westchester  County,  who  were  Protesters  in  1775  ;  and  John, 
Thomas,  Micah,  William,  and  Wilson,  of  Queen's  County, 
professed  themselves  to  be  true  and  dutiful  subjects  in  1776. 
Reuben,  of  Brooklyn,  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John  in  1783,  and 
died  in  Queen's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1802.  Thomas 
P.  died  at  St.  John  in  1827.  William,  (perhaps  the  above), 
died  in  King's  County,  New  Brunswick,  in  1802. 

WILLIAMS,  SAMUEL.  Of  Anson  County,  North  Carolina. 
Estate  confiscated  in  1779. 

WILLIAMS.  In  South  Carolina  were  three  who  belonged  to 
Charleston  ;  namely :  Robert,  James  G.,  and  George  R.,  all  of 
whom  were  Addressers  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  and  the 
first,  being  also  a  Petitioner  to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the 
crown,  lost  his  property  under  the  confiscation  act  in  1782. 

WILLIAMS.  Residence  unknown,  Job,  who  embarked  with 
the  royal  army  at  Boston,  in  1776  ;  and  Jonathan,  a  captain  in 
the  Guides  and  Pioneers. 

WILLIAMSON,  ANDREW.  Of  South  Carolina.  Estate  confis 
cated.  A  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  in  1775,  when 
he  was  probably  a  Whig. 

WILLIAMSON,  FRANCIS.  Of  Currituck  County,  North  Caro 
lina.  His  property  was  confiscated  in  1779.  Previous  to  the 
Revolution,  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

WILLIAMSON,  JOHN.  Of  Jamaica,  New  York.  A  signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Loyalty  in  1775 ;  he  also  signed  an  ac 
knowledgment  of  allegiance  in  1776. 

WILLIAMSON,  CHRISTOPHER.     Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir   Henry  Clinton   in   1780.      He   died  at 
Charleston  in  1814,  aged  sixty-seven. 
60 


710  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WILLOUGHBY,  BLISS.  Of  New  York.  He  lived  in  the  County 
of  Albany,  near  Bennington ;  and  early  in  1775,  being  one 
of  his  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace,  kept  his  house  and 
retainers  armed,  fearing  an  attack  from  the  rioters  or  rebels  of 
that  region. 

WILMOT,  LEMUEL.  Of  Long  Island,  New  York.  Entered 
the  king's  service  as  an  officer,  and  at  the  peace  was  a  captain 
in  the  Loyal  American  Regiment.  In  1783  he  settled  on  the 
river  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  where  he  continued  to  reside. 
He  died  near  Fredericton  in  1814.  He  received  half-pay. 
Hannah,  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  the  Honorable  Daniel 
Bliss,  died  in  1810.  Five  sons  survived  him.  The  Honorable 
Lemuel  A.  Wilmot,  the  son  of  his  youngest  son  William,  is  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  New  Brunswick,  and 
a  leading  politician  of  the  party  of  the  Liberals  of  that 
Colony. 

WILSON,  ARCHIBALD.  A  trader,  of  Boston.  Was  an  Address 
er  of  Hutchinson  in  1774 ;  went  to  Halifax  in  1776 ;  and  was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WILSON,  JOSEPH.     Of  Boston.     Was  a  Protester  in  1774. 

WILSON,  .  Coppersmith,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

W^as  proscribed  in  1778. 

WILSON,  ROBERT.  A  physician,  of  Charleston,  South  Caro 
lina.  Wras  an  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780,  and  a 
Petitioner  to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown  ;  and  in  1780 
was  banished  and  lost  his  estate.  John  Wilson,  of  George 
town,  incurred  the  same  penalties  for  offences  not  specified. 

WILSON,  JOHN.  Of  New  York.  He  went  to  Nassau,  New 
Providence,  and  became  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Royal  Ga 
zette. 

WILSON.  Four  of  this  name  (residence  unknown)  were  in 
service,  namely  :  Samuel  Richard,  who  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Garrison  Battalion ;  Robert,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Royal 
Fensible  Americans  ;  John,  an  officer  of  cavalry  in  the  Queen's 
Rangers ;  and  a  second  John,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Ameri 
can  Regiment ;  while  George  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John.  New 
Brunswick,  in  1783. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  711 

WILTBANK,  ABRAHAM.  Of  Delaware.  Was  a  Whig,  and  a 
lieutenant  in  the  service  of  that  State,  but  changed  sides.  In 
1778  he  was  required  to  abide  a  trial  for  treason,  or  submit  to 
the  forfeiture  of  his  property. 

WINCHESTER,  JOHN.  Died  at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1840, 
aged  ninety-eight. 

WINGATE,  JOHN.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Orange  County, 
Virginia.  In  1775  he  was  charged  with  having  in  his  posses 
sion  several  pamphlets  containing  very  obnoxious  reflections 
on  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
Whigs ;  and  was  waited  upon  by  the  Committee  of  that  Coun 
ty,  who  desired  him  to  surrender  them.  This  he  refused,  but 
after  several  peremptory  demands,  finally  consented,  to  pre 
vent  extremities.  That  the  reader  may  learn  the  titles  of 
some  of  the  publications  of  the  Loyalists,  a  list  of  those  taken 
from  Mr.  Wingate,  is  here  given,  namely :  The  Congress  Can 
vassed,  by  A.  W.  Farmer  :  A  View  of  the  Controversy  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  by  the  same :  Free  Thoughts 
on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress,  &c.  :  Short 
Advice  to  the  Counties  of  New  York :  and  An  Alarm  to  the 
Province  of  New  York.  Most  of  these  were  printed  at  New 
York,  by  Rivington ;  and  were  publicly  committed  to  the 
flames. 

WINNET,  JOHN,  Junior.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  Brit 
ish  army  for  Halifax,  in  1776. 

WINSLOW,  EDWARD.  Of  Massachusetts.  Brother  of  General 
John  Winslow.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1736. 
He  resided  at  Plymouth,  subsequently,  and  was  Clerk  of  the 
Courts,  Register  of  Probate,  and  Collector  of  the  Port.  He 
left  the  country  with  his  family  at  the  evacuation  of  Boston, 
in  1776,  and  went  to  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  died  in 
1784,  aged  seventy-two  years.  The  ceremonies  at  his  funeral 
were  of  a  style  to  confer  the  highest  honor.  His  estates  in 
Massachusetts  were  confiscated ;  but  every  branch  of  his  fam 
ily  was  amply  provided  for  by  the  British  government. 

WINSLOW,  EDWARD,  Junior.  Of  Massachusetts.  Son  of  Ed 
ward  Winslow.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1765. 


712  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

In  1775  he  joined  the  royal  army  at  Boston,  and  entering  the 
king's  service,  became  a  colonel.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  In  1782  he  was  muster-master  general  of  the  Loyalist 
forces  employed  under  the  crown.  After  the  war  he  settled  in 
New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  member  of  the  first  Council  form 
ed  in  that  Colony  ;  Surrogate  General ;  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  and  finally,  Administrator  of  the  Government.  He 
died  at  Fredericton  in  1815,  aged  seventy  years.  His  son, 
Edward  F.  Winslow,  Esquire,  is  sheriff"  of  Carlton  County, 
New  Brunswick.  Judge  Winslow  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Old  Colony  Club,  at  Plymouth,  and  was  one  of  its  most 
active  members.  He  delivered  the  first  anniversary  address 
of  that  association,  on  the  22d  of  December,  or  Fore-fathers' 
Day,  in  1770. 

WINSLOW,  ISAAC.  A  physician,  of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts. 
Son  of  General  John  Winslow.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
University  in  1762.  He  commenced  the  practice  of  physic, 
and  though  of  the  same  principles  as  other  members  of  his 
family,  remained  upon  his  estate  during  the  war  and  his  life. 
He  died  in  1819,  aged  eighty-one.  His  son  John,  an  eminent 
lawyer,  deceased  at  Natchez,  in  1820.  His  widow,  Frances, 
died  at  Hingham,  in  1846,  aged  eighty-four;  and  his  daughter 
Ruth  S.,  widow  of  Captain  Thomas  Dingley,  died  at  Pem 
broke,  the  same  year.  The  family  tomb  of  the  Winslows  is 
at  Marshfield,  near  the  residence  of  the  Honorable  Daniel 
Webster. 

WINSLOW,  ISAAC.  Of  Boston.  In  1774  he  was  an  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson,  and  in  1775  of  Gage.  He  was  appointed  a 
Mandamus  Councillor,  and  was  qualified.  In  1776  he  accom 
panied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax;  and  in  1778  was  proscribed 
and  banished.  In  his  religious  sentiments,  Mr.  Winslow  was 
a  Sandemanian. 

WINSLOW,  ISAAC,  Junior.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutch 
inson  in  1774,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs  the  same 
year.  In  1775  he  was  an  Addresser  of  Gage. 

WINSLOW,  JOHN.  Of  Boston.  An  Addresser  of  Hutchinson 
in  1774.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  713 

WINSLOW,  JOHN,  Junior.  Merchant,  of  Boston.  An  Addresser 
of  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  1775;  was  proscribed 
and  banished  in  1778. 

WINSLOW,  JOHN.  Of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  He  was 
the  grandson  of  the  second,  and  the  great-grandson  of  the  first 
Governor  Winslow,  of  the  Colony  of  Plymouth;  and  no  native 
of  New  England,  probably,  Sir  William  Pepperell  only  ex- 
cepted,  was  more  distinguished  as  a  military  leader,  at  the 
time  he  lived.  In  1740  he  was  a  captain  in  the  unfortunate 
expedition  to  Cuba;  and  subsequently,  endured  much  hard 
service  in  the  several  enterprises  against  Crown  Point,  and 
Nova  Scotia,  and  to  the  Kennebec,  in  the  two  French  wars. 
He  will  be  remembered  in  our  annals,  principally,  for  his  agency 
in  the  removal  of  the  Acadians  from  Nova  Scotia  in  1755.  The 
force  employed  in  that  Colony  at  this  period  was  composed 
almost  entirely  of  Massachusetts  troops,  specially  enlisted  for 
the  service,  to  act  as  a  distinct  body.  They  were  formed  into  a 
regiment  of  two  battalions,  of  which  Governor  Shirley  was  the 
Colonel,  and  of  which,  Winslow,  then  a  half-pay  captain  in 
the  British  army,  and  a  major-general  in  the  militia,  was  Lieu 
tenant-colonel.  As  Shirley  could  not  leave  his  government  to 
take  the  command  in  person,  Monckton,  a  lieutenant-colonel  in 
the  army,  was  appointed  to  conduct  the  first  battalion,  and 
Winslow  the  second.  There  was,  indeed,  much  adroit  man 
agement  on  the  part  of  the  Governor,  in  arranging  the  whole 
affair;  and  the  same  remark  may  be  made  of  those  who  par 
ticipated  in  the  enterprise  elsewhere.  It  is  especially  applica 
ble  to  Governor  Lawrence,  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  his  Council. 
The  plan  for  abducting  the  Acadians  was  kept  a  profound 
secret,  both  by  those  who  formed  it,  and  by  those  who  were 
sent  to  execute  it. 

A  proclamation  was  issued  by  Colonel  Winslow,  requiring 
the  inhabitants  of  certain  districts  and  "  of  all  other  districts,'7 
"  both  old  men  and  young  men,  as  well  as  all  the  lads  of  ten 
years  of  age,  to  attend  at  the  Church  at  Grand  Pre,"  on  the  5th 
of  September,  1755,  "at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  that  we 
may  impart  to  them  what  we  are  ordered  to  communicate  to 
60* 


714  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

them ;  declaring  that  no  excuse  will  be  admitted  on  any  pre 
tence  whatever,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  goods  and  chattels,  in 
default  of  real  estate."  The  victims  came.  Four  hundred  and 
eighteen  men  assembled  and  were  shut  up  in  the  church.  This 
done,  Winslow  placed  himself  in  their  midst  with  his  officers 
around  him,  and  addressed  them  in  a  speech  of  some  minutes ; 
and  after  making  known  that  it  was  "  very  disagreeable  to  his 
natural  make  and  temper  "  to  communicate  his  instructions, 
yet  that  it  was  not  his  business  to  "animadvert,  but  to  obey 
such  orders  as  he  should  receive,"  he  announced  the  cruel, 
wholly  unjustifiable  decree,  that  their  "lands  and  tenements, 
cattle  of  all  kinds  and  live  stock  of  all  sorts,  are  forfeited  to  the 
crown;  with  all  other  effects,  saving  their  money  and  house 
hold  goods,"  and  that  they  themselves  were  "  to  be  removed 
from  this  his  Majesty's  Province."  This,  said  he,  "is  peremp 
torily  his  Majesty's  orders,  that  the  whole  French  inhabitants 
of  these  districts  be  removed."  On  finishing  his  discourse,  he 
declared  that  all  to  whom  it  had  been  addressed,  were  "the 
King's  prisoners."  In  a  short  time,  the  number  of  persons  col 
lected,  and  on  whom  this  edict  was  to  fall,  was  four  hundred 
and  eighty-three  men,  and  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
women,  who  were  heads  of  families,  and  their  sons  arid  daugh 
ters,  to  the  aggregate  of  eleven  hundred  and  three,  making  a 
total  of  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty-three.  Their 
stock  consisted  of  seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  horned  cattle,  four  hundred  and  ninety- three  horses,  and 
twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-seven  sheep  and 
swine.  Some  of  these  wretched  people  endeavored  to  fly  from 
the  doom  pronounced  against  them,  when  "the  country  was 
laid  waste  to  prevent  their  subsistence."  In  one  district  alone, 
six  hundred  and  seventy-eight  buildings,  of  which  more  than  a 
third  were  dwelling-houses,  were  destroyed. 

The  moment  of  embarkation  is  thus  described.  "The  pre 
parations  having  been  all  completed,  the  10th  of  September 
was  fixed  upon  as  the  day  of  departure.  The  prisoners  were 
drawn  up  six  deep,  and  the  young  men,  one  hundred  and  six 
ty-one  in  number,  were  ordered  to  go  first  on  board  of  the 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  715 

vessels.  This  they  instantly  and  peremptorily  refused  to  do, 
declaring  that  they  would  not  leave  their  parents ;  but  ex 
pressed  a  willingness  to  comply  with  the  order,  provided  they 
were  permitted  to  embark  with  their  families.  Their  request 
was  immediately  rejected,  and  the  troops  were  ordered  to  fix 
bayonets  and  advance  towards  the  prisoners,  a  motion  which 
had  the  effect  of  producing  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  young 
men,  who  forthwith  commenced  their  march.  The  road  from 
the  chapel  to  the  shore,  just  one  mile  in  length,  was  crowded 
with  women  and  children,  who,  on  their  knees,  greeted  them 
as  they  passed  with  their  tears  and  their  blessings ;  while  the 
prisoners  advanced  with  slow  and  reluctant  steps,  weeping, 
praying,  and  singing  hymns.  This  detachment  was  followed 
by  the  seniors,  who  passed  through  the  same  scene  of  sorrow 
and  distress.  In  this  manner  was  the  whole  male  part  of  the 
population  of  the  district  of  Minas  put  on  board  of  five  trans 
ports,  stationed  in  the  river  Gaspereaux;  each  vessel  being 
guarded  by  six  non-commissioned  officers  and  eighty  privates. 
As  soon  as  the  other  vessels  arrived,  their  wives  and  children 
followed,  and  the  whole  were  transported  from  Nova  Scotia." 

Hutchinson,  in  speaking  of  the  distresses  of  these  people,  says: 
"In  several  instances,  the  husbands  who  happened  to  be  at  a 
distance  from  home,  were  put  on  board  vessels  bound  to  one  of 
the  English  colonies,  and  their  wives  and  children  on  board 
other  vessels,  bound  to  other  colonies  remote  from  the  first. 
One  of  the  most  sensible  of  them,  describing  his  case,  said,  *  It 
was  the  hardest  which  had  happened  since  our  Saviour  was 
upon  earth.1 ' 

Deeds  of  deeper,  darker  hue,  have  seldom  been  done.  The 
brute  animals,  at  least,  had  committed  no  acts  against  the 
majesty  of  England;  but,  "The  volumes  of  smoke  which  the 
half-expiring  embers  emitted,  while  they  marked  the  site  of  the 
peasant's  humble  cottage,  bore  testimony  to  the  extent  of  the 
work  of  destruction.  For  several  successive  evenings  the  cat 
tle  assembled  around  the  smouldering  ruins,  as  if  in  anxious 
expectation  of  the  return  of  their  masters;  while  all  night  long 
the  faithful  watch-dogs  of  the  Neutrals  howled  over  the  scene 


716  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

of  desolation,  and  mourned  alike  the  hand  that  had  fed,  and 
the  house  that  had  sheltered  them."  In  another  section  of  the 
Colony,  two  hundred  and  fifty- three  houses  were  set  on  fire  at 
one  time,  and  their  owners  beheld  the  awful  calamity  from  the 
neighboring  woods  in  unspeakable  agony.  When,  at  length, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  burn  their  church,  they  suddenly 
emerged  from  the  forest,  slew  and  maimed  about  thirty  of  their 
enemies,  and  quickly  returned  to  " God's  first  temples."  Seven 
thousand  of  these  wretched  people  were  hunted  up,  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  and  sent  to  different  parts  of  the  thirteen 
Colonies.  Sole  and  forlorn,  they  were  to  be  met  with  after 
wards  in  every  principal  town  from  Boston  to  Savannah. 
Hundreds  of  them  perished  ;  few  were  ever  in  comfort.  Those 
who  were  carried  to  Georgia,  distant  as  they  were  from  home, 
attempted  to  make  a  voyage  round  the  coast  to  Nova  Scotia, 
but  after  reaching  New  York  and  Boston,  were  met  by  orders 
which  compelled  them  to  relinquish  their  design. 

It  is  said  by  the  historian,*  from  whom  this  brief  narrative 
is  chiefly  derived,  that  no  records  of  this  event  have  been  pre 
served  in  the  archives  of  Nova  Scotia.  "  The  particulars  of 
this  affair,"  he  remarks,  "seem  to  have  been  carefully  con 
cealed,  although  it  is  not  now  easy  to  assign  the  reason,  unless 
the  parties  were,  as  in  truth  they  well  might  be,  ashamed  of 
the  transaction."  There  can  be  no  excuse  for  the  transporta 
tion  of  the  Acadians,  and  for  the  wanton  destruction  of  their 
possessions  ;  and  humanity  is  shocked  at  the  accounts,  which, 
though  the  contrivers  of  the  plan  "carefully  concealed  "  their 
relative  agency  in  forming  and  executing  it,  have  still  been 
preserved  for  the  execration  of  mankind.  The  most  responsible 
persons  appear  to  have  been  Charles  Lawrence,  Governor  of 
Nova  Scotia,  the  members  of  his  Council,  the  Honorable  Vice 
Admiral  Boscawen,  and  Rear  Admiral  Moystyn.  Colonel 
Winslow  was  but  the  instrument,  and  acted  under  the  Gov 
ernor's  written  and  positive  instructions.  Still,  from  the  state 
ments  of  another  historian,!  who  was  personally  acquainted 

*  Haliburton.  f  Hutchinson. 


OF  AMERICAN  LOYALISTS.  717 

with  all  the  circumstances,  he  must  have  known  the  nature  of 
the  service  before  he  voluntarily  engaged  in  it.  In  truth,  his 
own  popularity,  and  the  assurances  held  out,  that  Governor 
Shirley  would  command  the  expedition,  and  that  he  would  be 
the  officer  next  in  rank,  seems  to  have  been  given,  to  gain  the 
assent  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  to  send  off  her  troops, 
to  promote  enlistments  of  men,  and  to  insure  the  success  of  the 
measure  generally.  It  is  certain,  also,  that  Win  slow,  so  far 
from  being  reluctant  to  engage  in  the  duty,  smothered  his  dis 
pleasure  when  he  ascertained  that  Shirley,  instead  of  conduct 
ing  the  enterprise,  designed  that  Monckton  should  assume  the 
direction  of  it,  and  that  he  should  still  be  second  under  this 
arrangement. 

Whatever  were  the  offences  of  some  of  the  Acadians,  it  is 
undeniably  true  that,  as  a  people,  they  were  involved  in  hope 
less  and  utter  misery,  in  consequence  of  their  unalterable  at 
tachment  to  their  religion,  and  their  devoted  loyalty  to  their 
sovereign ;  and  was  the  head  of  the  most  ancient  and  most 
loyal  family  of  New  England  the  proper  instrument  to  punish 
them  for  faithfulness  to  conscience  and  to  duty?  Twenty  years 
after,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  accompanying  notices,  nearly  every 
person  of  Winslow's  lineage  became  sufferers  in  turn,  and  for 
similar  reasons ;  and  the  fact,  that  they,  by  the  force  of  events, 
were  transplanted  to  the  very  soil  from  which  the  Acadians  were 
expelled,  and  that  men  of  their  blood  and  name  are  now  as 
rarely  to  be  met  with  in  the  country  in  which  for  a  century  and 
a  half  they  were  prominent  actors,  as  are  those  of  French  origin 
in  the  former  Acadia  of  France,  affords  another  instance,  and 
the  last  to  be  recorded  in  this  volume,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  hu 
man  life,  and  the  changes  of  condition  effected  by  civil  war. 

In  1756  the  indefatigable  Shirley  determined  to  raise  three 
thousand  men  in  Massachusetts,  to  aid  the  mother  country  in 
her  operations  against  the  French  in  America ;  and  of  these, 
and  of  six  thousand  other  troops,  Winslow  was  to  be  com- 
mander-in-chief,  with  the  rank  of  major-general.  His  zeal  not 
only  prompted  him  to  sustain  this  large  requisition  upon  his 
native  Colony,  but  induced  him  to  propose  an  increase  of  the 


718  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

number.  But  causes  of  dissatisfaction  existed  in  consequence 
of  some  occurrences  while  upon  the  unhappy  service  the  pre 
vious  year,  just  mentioned,  and  men  enrolled  themselves  slow 
ly  and  reluctantly.  Before  the  quota  was  completed,  Shirley 
was  superseded  in  his  military  authority,  and  the  Massachu 
setts  troops,  accordingly,  performed  but  a  secondary  part  in 
the  enterprises  which  succeeded.  Win  slow  took  the  field  at 
the  head  of  nearly  eight  thousand  men,  raised  in  New  England 
and  New  York,  and  was  in  position  to  meet  Montcalm,  who, 
to  save  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga,  made  a  movement  from 
Oswego  (which  fell  into  his  hands)  by  the  route  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  As  soon  as  the  French  General  returned  to  Canada, 
Winslow  and  his  army  returned  to  Massachusetts.  The  cam 
paign  was  attended  with  no  results ;  discomfiture  happened  to 
the  British  arms  every  where.  Win  slew's  force  was  diminished 
by  considerable  desertions,  and  by  deaths  on  his  march  home 
ward,  and  deaths  in  camp  after  he  had  reached  the  Colony  ; 
and  he  found,  to  add  to  his  embarrassments,  that  the  govern 
ment  had  made  no  provision  for  the  payment  of  his  officers 
and  men.  The  latter  difficulty  was  met  by  an  appropriation 
of  the  General  Court,  and  the  General  was  finally  permitted  to 
enjoy  repose. 

In  1762  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  "to 
repair  to  the  river  St.  Croix ;  determine  upon  the  place  where 
the  said  easterly  line  [of  Maine]  is  to  begin ;  extend  the  said 
line  as  far  as  should  be  thought  necessary  ;  and  ascertain  and 
settle  the  same  by  marked  trees,  or  other  boundary  marks." 
William  Brattle  and  James  Otis  were  his  associates,  and  they 
made  a  report  of  their  doings,  which  was  printed.  This  may 
have  been  the  first  of  the  many  efforts  made  to  solve  that  vexed 
question  —  "  Which  is  the  true  river  St.  Croix?" 

In  compliment  to  General  Winslow,  "the  fourth  of  a  family 
more  eminent  for  their  talents,  learning,  and  honors,  than  any 
other  in  New  England,"  one  of  the  towns  incorporated  on  the 
river  Kennebec,  in  1771,  was  called  by  his  name.*  Of  this 


*  It  is  still  Winslow,  though  the  town  of  Waterville  was  formed  of  a  part 
of  it  in  1802. 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  719 

town  he  was  one  of  the  original  grantees  in  1766 ;  and  it  is  an 
interesting  incident,  as  connected  with  his  political  sympathies, 
that  the  first  settlers  were  stanch  Whigs,  who,  though  living 
almost  in  a  wilderness,  had  their  Committee  of  Safety,  and  in 
1776,  voted  to  raise  or  provide  "one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  of  shingles,  and  ten  thousand  of  clapboards,  to  pur 
chase  a  town  stock  of  ammunition."  General  Winslow  was  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  during  the  Stamp 
Act  difficulties,  and  acted,  possibly,  with  the  Whigs.  He  was 
associated  with  Gushing,  Dexter,  and  Samuel  Adams,  on  sev 
eral  occasions,  in  preparing  answers  to  the  speeches  of  Gov 
ernor  Bernard,  and  the  papers  which,  apparently,  they  jointly 
submitted,  contain  very  pungent  rebukes,  and  an  examination 
of  the  grounds  and  principles  of  the  controversy.  He  died  at 
Hingham,  in  1774,  aged  seventy-one.  His  widow,  I  suppose, 
embarked  with  the  royal  army  in  1776.  She  was  in  England 
in  1783,  and  enjoyed  a  pension  from  the  government.  As  has 
been  remarked,  the  Revolution  caused  the  removal  of  most  of 
the  members  of  this  ancient  family ;  and  the  Winslows  of  Brit 
ish  America  are,  probably,  at  the  present  time,  the  nearest 
direct  descendants  of  Edward  Winslow,  the  Mayflower  Pil 
grim,  and  one  of  the  earliest  governors  of  the  Old  Colony. 

WINSLOW,  JOSEPH.  The  Committee  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  of  which  Jonathan  Otis  was  chairman,  wrote  to  the 
Committee  of  Easthampton,  New  York,  in  June,  1775,  that 
he  was  "an  inveterate  enemy  of  our  county,"  and  that  it 
"was  generally  thought,"  he  had  gone  to  a  hospital  to  take 
the  small-pox,  for  the  purpose  of  spreading  that  disease  in  the 
Whig  camp  at  Cambridge.  Thomas  Gilbert  and  Ebenezer 
Philips  were  charged  with  taking  the  small-pox  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  truth  of  such  an  averment  may  be  doubted. 

WINSLOW,  JOSHUA.  Of  Boston.  In  1760  he  was  one  of 
the  fifty-eight  Boston  Memorialists,  who  arrayed  themselves 
against  the  officers  of  the  crown,  and  in  1767  was  a  member  of 
the  Committee  of  that  town  appointed  to  adopt  means  to  stop 
unnecessary  importations,  "which  threaten  the  country  with 
poverty  and  ruin."  But  in  1774  he  was  an  Addresser  of 
Hutchinson,  and  a  Protester  against  the  Whigs. 


720  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WINSLOW,  PELHAM.  Attorney  at  law,  of  Plymouth,  Massa 
chusetts.  Son  of  General  John  Winslow.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1753.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and 
banished.  He  entered  the  royal  service,  and  was  a  major. 
He  died  at  Long  Island,  New  York,  in  1783. 

WINSTANTLY,  THOMAS.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished 
and  his  property  confiscated  in  1782. 

WINTERMOOT,  .     Of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.     He  was 

a  noted  adherent  of  the  crown,  and  a  large  land  proprietor. 
A  fort  bearing  his  name  was  erected  on  his  estate,  and  was 
occupied  by  the  miscreant  Colonel  Butler,  as  his  head-quarters, 
while  on  his  murderous  enterprise  against  Wyoming.  Winter- 
moot  was  himself  active  in  bringing  destruction  upon  the 
valley,  and  after  doing  all  the  mischief  in  his  power,  removed 
to  Canada.  In  the  war  of  1812  he  had  a  son  in  the  British 
service,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  who  was  killed  at  Fort 
Erie,  by  an  American  volunteer  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Wyoming. 

WISWALL,  JOHN.  An  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Falmouth, 
Maine.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Wiswall,  of  Boston,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1749.  He  commenced  a 
school  at  Falmouth  as  early  as  the  year  1753,  at  which  time 
he  was  a  Congregationalist  and  a  student  of  divinity.  In 
1756  he  was  ordained  over  the  society  in  New  Casco.  He  be 
came  deranged  in  1762,  and  continued  in  an  unsound  state  of 
mind  several  months.  In  1764  he  changed  his  religious  views, 
and  embraced  Episcopacy.  Several  attempts  were  made  be 
fore  the  last  named  year,  to  form  a  society  of  Episcopalians  at 
Falmouth,  but  none  had  proved  successful.  At  this  time 
great  divisions  existed  in  the  only  parish  there,  and  after  a 
part  of  the  members  had  agreed  to  secede  and  erect  a  church, 
a  quarrel  arose  among  them,  and  "two  of  the  most  respectable 
of"  the  seceders  "fought  in  the  street."  Of  the  new  society 
Mr.  Wiswall  was  invited  to  become  the  minister.  The  "  sece 
ders  from  the  old  parish  had  for  some  time  been  paying  him 
court,"  and  he  "suddenly  left  his  people  without  the  usual 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  721 

formalities,  declared  for  the  Church  of  England,"  and  accepted 
the  call.  After  preaching  several  times  in  the  town-house,  he 
embarked  for  England  to  be  ordained,  and,  as  was  common  in 
those  days,  took  passage  in  a  mast-ship.  He  returned  in 
May,  1765.  His  flock,  July,  1766,  consisted  of  seventy  fami 
lies,  and,  as  he  wrote  at  the  time,  of  "  a  considerable  number 
of  strangers."  *  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  contributed  £20  per  annum,  and  his 
people  paid  the  remainder  of  his  salary.  The  latter,  under 
the  existing  laws,  were  required,  also,  to  aid  in  the  support 
the  minister  and  colleague  pastor  of  the  old  parish ;  but  of 
this  burden  they  were  eventually  relieved  by  consent  of  both 
parties,  and  by  an  act  of  the  General  Court.  The  two 
parishes  thus  terminated  their  strife ;  no  others  existed  in  that 
part  of  Falmouth,  which  is  now  Portland,  anterior  to  the  Rev 
olution. 

But  though  religious  differences  came  to  an  end,  the  increas 
ing  public  disputes  caused  new  divisions  in  Mr.  Wiswall's 
own  communion.  Among  those  who  were  offended,  and 
seceded  because  of  their  minister's  loyalty,  was  General  Pre- 
ble,  a  very  distinguished  Whig,  to  whom  the  Provincial  Con 
gress  first  offered  the  command  of  the  Massachusetts  forces, 
but  who,  on  account  of  his  age,  declined  the  appointment, 
when  it  was  conferred  upon  General  Ward.  Mr.  Wiswall, 
however,  continued  to  perform  his  duties,  until  Falmouth  was 
burned  by  Mowatt  in  1775.  In  that  wanton  outrage,  St.  Paul's 
Church,  the  building  in  which  he  officiated,  was  consumed. 
His  conduct  during  the  troubles  with  Mowatt,  which  preceded 

*  Parson  Smith,  to  whom  Mr.  Wiswall  seems  to  have  been  a  source  of  great 
affliction,  and  a  sort  of  evil  genius,  and  who  was  either  recording,  that  the 
community  was  in  a  "  sad  toss,"  or  in  a  "  sad  uproar,"  in  consequence  of  the 
dissensions  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  says,  in 
his  Journal:  "  June  29th,  (Sunday,)  The  Lieutenant  Governor,  Judge 
Oliver,  Mr.  Goff,  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  Mr.  Bowdoin,  at  meeting,"  to  hear 
him.  Though  seventy  families  had  gone  off,  that  the  good  old  man  retained 
the  strangers  of  distinction,  must  have  been,  under  the  circumstances,  highly 
grateful  to  his  feelings. 

61 


722  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

the  conflagration,  caused  much  offence ;  and  while  walking 
with  that  miscreant,  he  was  seized,  and  carried  before  the 
Whig  Committee,  or  Board  of  War,  a  prisoner.  Though  he 
was  soon  released,  his  usefulness  was  at  an  end,  and  yielding 
to  circumstances,  he  soon  departed  from  town.  During  the 
war  he  went  to  England,  and  in  1778  was  included  in  the 
banishment  act  of  Massachusetts.  While  abroad  he  received 
some  professional  employment,  and  in  1781  was  a  curate  at 
Oxford.  After  the  peace  he  returned  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Nova  Scotia.  He  died  in  that  Colony  in  1812.  His  son,  the 
Honorable  Peleg  Wiswall,  was  appointed  a  Judge  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Nova  Scotia  in  1816,  and  died  at  Annapo 
lis  in  1836,  aged  seventy-four. 

WITTINGTON,  WILLIAM.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  Brit 
ish  army  for  Halifax. 

WOGNER,  JOHN.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780.  He  was  banished,  and 
his  property  confiscated,  in  1782. 

WOLGIMOT,  JOHN.  Of  Tryon,  now  Montgomery,  County, 
New  York.  In  1775  a  signer  of  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

WOOD,  ELIJAH.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York.  He  was 
an  officer  in  the  royal  service,  and  in  1780  commanded  the 
party  of  Loyalists,  who,  after  a  skirmish  of  six  hours,  cap 
tured  the  rebel  privateer  sloop  Revenue. 

WOOD,  JOHN.  Died  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1817, 
aged  eighty-one  years. 

WOOD,  ROBERT.  Of  New  York.  Was  a  merchant  of  that 
city,  and  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Peter  Miller  and  Company. 
In  1783  he  went  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  established 
himself  in  business  the  year  following.  He  died  at  St.  John  in 
1827,  aged  sixty-eight. 

WOODBRIDGE,  TIMOTHY.  Of  Massachusetts.  A  member  of  the 
General  Court  in  1771 ;  and  of  weight  on  the  ministerial  side. 

WOODRUFF,  NATHANIEL  and  JABEZ.  Of  Queen's  County,  New 
York.  In  1775  signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty.  In  1776 
Jabez  professed  himself  to  Lord  Richard  and  General  William 
Howe  a  loyal  and  well  affected  subject. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  723 

WOODWARD,  ISAAC.  One  of  the  first  who  left  the  United 
States  for  New  Brunswick.  He  died  in  that  Province,  No 
vember,  1833,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  He  belonged  to  the 
society  of  the  Friends. 

WOODWARD,  JESSE.  Of  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey. 
His  ancestor  came  to  America  three  years  after  William  Penn, 
and  built  a  stone  house,  which  is  still  standing.  He  was  a 
man  of  consequence  in  his  neighborhood,  and  was  employed 
by  Lord  Cornwallis  to  contract  for  stores  and  forage,  for  the 
royal  army.  When  his  Lordship  left  that  part  of  the  country, 
considerable  sums  were  due  to  persons  of  whom  Mr.  Wood 
ward  had  made  purchases,  for  which  he  was  held  accountable  ; 
and  unable  to  make  payment,  he  was  imprisoned  by  the  Whig 
authorities,  and  remained  in  confinement  three  years.  In  1783 
he  removed  to  Beaver  Harbor,  New  Brunswick,  and  thence  to 
St.  John,  where  he  died.  He  belonged  to  the  religious  society 
of  the  Friends,  or  Quakers. 

WOODWARD,  JESSE.  Of  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey. 
Son  of  Jesse  Woodward.  After  receiving  a  good  education,  he 
chose  a  seaman's  life,  and  was  absent  on  a  voyage  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  struggle,  and  remained  abroad  until  its 
close.  His  political  sympathies  were,  however,  on  the  side  of 
the  crown,  and  he  joined  his  father's  family  in  emigrating  to 
New  Brunswick.  He  settled  at  St.  John,  and  was  a  ship 
master.  He  removed  to  Halifax  in  1808 ;  and  died  in  Africa 
in  1832.  Three  sons  and  six  daughters  survived  him.  His 
son,  Isaac  Woodward,  Esquire,  of  St.  John,  was  recently  a 
County  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

WOODWARD,  JOHN.  Of  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey. 
Brother  of  the  preceding.  Although  of  the  religious  faith 
of  his  father,  he  accepted  a  military  commission,  and  in  1782 
was  an  ensign,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  a  lieutenant  in  the 
first  battalion  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers.  He  settled  at  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  was  the  grantee  of  a  city  lot,  and  re 
ceived  half-pay.  He  died  at  St.  John  about  the  year  1805. 
After  his  decease,  his  widow  and  children  returned  to  New 
Jersey.  His  son  Leeson  now  (1846)  resides  at  Philadelphia. 


724  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WOODWARD,  ROBERT.  An  ensign  in  the  Third  Battalion  of 
New  Jersey  Volunteers. 

WOODWARD,  THOMAS.  Of  Queen's  County,  New  York. 
Acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  He  was  among  the 
Addressers  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterling,  of  the  Forty-second 
Regiment,  April,  1779 ;  as  was  Nathaniel  Woodward,  of  the 
same  County. 

WOODWARD,  WILLIAM.  Of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
A  Protester. 

WOOLEN,  WILLIAM.  An  officer  of  the  Customs.  Embarked 
at  Boston  in  1776  for  Halifax,  with  the  British  army. 

WOOLSEY,  BENJAMIN  MUIRSON.  An  officer  of  cavalry  in  the 
Queen's  Rangers.  At  the  peace  he  settled  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  was  a  major  in  the  militia.  He  returned  to  the  United 
States. 

WOOTTEN,  MORRIS.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

WORDEN,  JARVIS.  Of  North  Castle,  New  York.  Gave  up 
all  for  his  loyalty,  and  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  in  1783.  He  died  at  Greenwich,  King's  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  1842,  aged  eighty-six,  and  was  buried  by  his 
desire  on  his  own  farm. 

WORDEN,  JEREMIAH.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
in  1783. 

WORDEN,  SAMUEL.  Of  Murderkill,  Delaware.  Was  pro 
scribed  in  1778. 

WORMLEY,  JOHN.  A  captain  in  the  North  Carolina  Volun 
teers. 

WORRALL,  THOMAS  G.  Embarked  at  Boston  with  the  Brit 
ish  army  for  Halifax. 

WORTHINGTON,  JOHN,  L.  L.  D.  Of  Massachusetts.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Yale  College  in  1740,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  profes 
sion  of  the  law.  The  late  President  D  wight,  in  speaking  of  him, 
said  that  he  was  ua  lawyer  of  the  first  eminence,  and  a  man 
who  would  have  done  honor  to  any  town,  and  any  country." 
He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  1771  and  in  1774,  and  was  appointed  a  Mandamus 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  725 

Councillor,  but  declined  the  perilous  honor.  Although  on  the 
side  of  government,  and  opposed  to  the  course  of  the  Whigs, 
he  was  moderate  and  temperate  in  his  opinions  and  actions. 
He  continued  in  the  country,  and  died  at  Springfield  in  1800,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-one.  One  of  his  daughters  married  the  pure 
and  gifted  Fisher  Ames,  another  was  the  wife  of  Judge  Bliss, 
a  Loyalist,  who  is  noticed  in  these  pages.  Mr.  Worthington 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

WOSSORD,  BENJAMIN.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was  in  office 
under  the  crown  after  the  capitulation  of  Charleston.  His 
property  was  confiscated. 

WRAGG,  JOHN.  Of  Broad  Street,  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
An  Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780 ;  and  a  Petitioner 
to  be  armed  on  the  side  of  the  crown.  He  was  banished  and 
his  property  confiscated  in  1782. 

WRAGG,  WILLIAM.  Of  South  Carolina.  He  was  born  in  1714, 
and  was  educated  and  fitted  for  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Eng 
land.  After  returning  to  South  Carolina,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Assembly  and  of  the  Council  for  many  years.  In  1709  he 
declined  the  appointment  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony,  that 
he  might  give  evidence  to  those  whose  political  course  he  op 
posed,  that  his  own  conduct  was  not  influenced  by  the  hope  of 
official  distinction.  Refusing  to  take  an  oath  prescribed  by  the 
Provincial  Congress,  he  was  compelled  to  go  into  banishment. 
He  embarked  for  Europe  in  the  summer  of  1777,  but  perished 
on  the  passage,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  He  possessed  an 
ample  fortune,  and,  until  the  Revolutionary  controversy  com 
menced,  was  held  in  the  highest  consideration.  That  he  was 
a  gentleman  of  talents  and  of  blameless  life,  was  universally 
admitted. 

WREN,  MILES.  A  grantee  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in 
1783. 

WRIGHT,  DANIEL.  Residence  unknown.  Went  to  Halifax 
from  Boston  in  March,  1776. 

WRIGHT,  ELIAS.  Of  New  York.  Went  to  New  Brunswick 
in  1783,  was  a  grantee  of  St.  John,  and  became  a  magis- 
61* 


726  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

trate.     He  died  at  Beaver  Harbor,  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  in 
1825,  aged  seventy-six. 

WRIGHT,  JAMES.  Of  Georgia.  Was  major  of  the  Georgia 
Loyalists. 

WRIGHT,  JOHN.  A  merchant,  of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Was 
proscribed  and  banished  in  1778. 

WRIGHT.  Fourteen  of  this  name,  of  Queen's  County,  New 
York,  acknowledged  allegiance,  October,  1776.  To  wit: 
Hallet,  Joseph,  Zebulon,  Samuel,  Nathaniel,  Samuel,  Thomas, 
Nicholas,  Gilbert,  William,  Gideon,  Theophilus,  George,  and 
Anthony. 

WRIGHT,  SIR  JAMES,  BARONET.  Of  Georgia.  He  was  the  son  of 
Judge  Wright,  of  South  Carolina.  Sir  James  held  at  different 
periods  the  highest  posts  in  Georgia,  having  been  Attorney 
General,  Judge,  and  Lieutenant  Governor,  before  assuming  the 
government  of  the  Colony  in  1761.  He  was  governor  at  the 
commencement  of  hostilities,  and  was  the  last  who  adminis 
tered  affairs  in  the  name  of  the  king.  In  writing  to  the  Earl  of 
Dartmouth,  from  Savannah,  December,  1774,  he  said,  that 
"  since  the  Carolina  Deputies  have  returned  from  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  as  they  call  it,  every  means  have  been  used  to 
raise  a  flame  again  in  this  Province."  In  the  same  letter  he 
remarked,  that  the  proceedings  of  that  Assembly  had  roused  so 
rebellious  a  feeling,  as  that  "God  knows  what  the  conse 
quences  may  be,  or  what  man,  or  whose  property  may  escape." 
In  1776,  such  had  been  the  progress  of  Revolutionary  principles 
in  Georgia,  that  the  communications  of  Sir  James  to  the  legis 
lature  were  entirely  disregarded.  Having  threatened  the 
Whigs  that  he  would  resort  to  a  military  force  to  stop  their  pro 
ceedings,  Colonel  Joseph  Habersham,  a  member  of  the  Assem 
bly,  was  directed  to  seize  his  person.  Sir  James  gave  his  parole 
of  honor  to  confine  himself  to  his  own  house,  but  soon  violated 
the  pledge  ;  and  making  his  escape  to  an  armed  vessel  of  the 
crown  in  the  harbor  of  Savannah,  he  planned  an  attack  upon 
the  town,  which  proved  unsuccessful.  He  embarked  for  Eng 
land.  In  1779  he  was  dispatched  to  re-assume  the  govern 
ment  of  Georgia.  Savannah  at  this  time  was  in  possession 


OF    AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  727 

of  the  king's  forces ;  and  the  Whigs  under  General  Lincoln, 
assisted  by  the  French  under  Count  D'Estaing,  resolved  to 
recover  it.  An  assault  was  made  October  9th,  but  was  unsuc 
cessful,  and  caused  the  assailants  the  loss  of  nearly  one  thou 
sand  men.  The  friends  of  Sir  James  claim,  that  by  his  deter 
mined  zeal  and  spirit,  the  defence  of  his  capital  was  "one  of 
the  most  brilliant  events  of  the  war  in  the  South."  This 
defence,  it  is  also  affirmed,  would  not  have  been  made  but  for 
his  vote  in  the  council  of  war ;  as  the  other  members  were 
equally  divided,  when  he  decided  for  vigorous  opposition  to 
the  combined  force  sent  to  Georgia,  though  very  superior  to  that 
under  Prevost,  the  royal  general.  Sir  James,  before  the  peace, 
was  at  New  York.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  retired  to  Eng 
land.  He  owned  a  large  property  in  Georgia,  which  was  con 
fiscated.  From  "  his  situation,  age,  activity,  and  zeal,  as  well 
as  abilities,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Board  of  Agents  of 
the  American  Loyalists,"  for  prosecuting  their  claims  to  com 
pensation  for  losses.  His  own  claim  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  commissioners  for  a  considerable  time.  "After  a  long  ex 
amination  of  his  case,"  they  reported  him  "  to  have  rendered 
eminent  services  to  Great  Britain ;  to  have  lost  real  and  per 
sonal  property  to  the  value  of  £33,702,  and  his  office  of  Gov 
ernor,  value  £1000  per  annum."  During  the  investigation,  he 
produced  letters  from  Lord  George  Germaine,  and  Lord  Mans 
field.  Sir  James  died  in  England  previous  to  1788,  and  was 
succeeded  in  the  Presidency  of  the  Board  of  Agents  by  Sir 
William  Pepperell,  of  Maine. 

WRIGHT,  WILLIAM.  Of  Path  Valley,  Pennsylvania.  Was 
proscribed  in  1778. 

WYATT,  JOSEPH.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  An  Ad 
dresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

WYER,  DAVID.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  He  was  bred  to  the 
sea,  and  became  a  ship-master.  His  residence  was  at  Charles- 
town,  Massachusetts,  while  thus  employed,  but  he  removed  to 
Falmouth,  and  was  an  officer  of  the  Customs.  When  the 
Revolution  commenced  he  was  still  in  office,  and  with  all  the 
officers  of  the  revenue  of  that  port  (Thomas  Child  only  ex- 


728  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

cepted,  who  was  a  Whig)  abandoned  the  country.  His  loss 
in  the  conflagration  of  Falmouth  was  inconsiderable,  being 
estimated  at  only  £67.  During  the  military  possession  of  the 
town  by  Thompson,  and  preceding  that  event,  he  was  re 
quired  to  give  his  presence  before  the  Board  of  War  as  being 
a  Tory. 

WYER,  DAVID,  Junior.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Son  of  David 
Wyer.  He  was  born  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  1741, 
and  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1758.  In  1762  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law 
at  Falmouth.  Until  the  year  1774,  he  and  Theophilus  Brad 
bury,  who  removed  from  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  were  the 
only  lawyers  who  resided  in  that  town,  and  of  course  they 
were  ever  antagonists.  It  is  said,  too,  that  their  characters 
were  as  opposite  as  their  position  in  Court.  "  Bradbury," 
(says  the  correct  and  diligent  Willis,  in  his  History  of  Port 
land,)  "  was  grave  and  dignified  in  his  deportment,  while 
Wyer  was  full  of  gayety  and  wit,  the  shafts  of  which  did  not 
always  fall  harmless  from  his  adversary ;  the  life  of  the 
former  was  marked  by  steadiness  and  uniformity,  that  of  the 
latter  was  desultory  and  irregular ;  one  was  distinguished  by 
genius,  the  other  by  method ;  they  both  had  qualities  to  ele 
vate  them  in  society,  and  give  them  a  fair  rank  in  the  Courts, 
Bradbury  was  more  of  a  special  pleader,  and  by  the  weight 
of  his  character  and  manners  had  great  influence  with  the 
Court  and  Jury;  but  Wyer  often  carried  his  point  by  the 
vigorous  sallies  of  his  wit,  and  when  he  lost  the  jury,  he  fre 
quently  gained  the  laugh  and  the  audience."  They  were 
also  of  opposite  sects  in  religion,  and  of  different  parties  in 
politics. 

On  the  testimony  of  Governor  Sullivan,  and  other  lawyers 
who  practised  in  Maine  prior  to  the  Revolution,  Daniel  Davis, 
Esquire,  said  of  Wyer,  that  "he  was  a  high-minded,  sterling 
fellow,  of  strong  talents,  an  able  and  eloquent  advocate,  and 
extremely  independent  in  his  opinions  and  character."  Mr. 
Wyer  kept  his  office  in  his  house,  which  was  in  Congress 
Street,  nearly  opposite  the  north  school-house.  This  house 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  729 

was  not  burned  in  1775,  and  is  now  (or  was  until  a  short  time) 
standing.  If  without  the  regular  appointment  and  commis 
sion  of  king's  attorney,  Mr.  Wyer  acted  in  that  capacity  when 
occasion  required  the  services  of  such  an  officer  in  the  Courts 
of  Maine.  He  died  in  1776  at  Stroudwater,  to  which  place  he 
removed  after  the  burning  of  Falmouth,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
five,  of  an  epidemic  which  prevailed  at  that  time,  and  which 
carried  off  many  persons  old  and  young.  His  wife  was  a 
Miss  Russell,  a  niece  of  Thomas  Russell.  Mrs.  Wyer  and  two 
children  survived  him.  One  of  the  latter,  a  daughter,  married 
Captain  Samuel  Waite,  of  Portland.  The  three  were  living 
in  that  city  in  1833. 

WYER;  THOMAS.  Of  Falmouth,  Maine.  Brother  of  David 
Wyer,  Junior.  He  was  born  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts, 
June  15,  1744,  and  removing  to  Falmouth  with  his  father,  was 
also  employed  as  an  officer  of  the  Customs.  He  lost  £325  in 
real  and  personal  estate  by  the  burning  of  the  town  in  1775. 
In  1778  he  was  proscribed  and  banished.  In  1781  he  was  in 
New  York,  where  he  was  settled  for  the  time  with  his  wife. 
In  1784  he  went  to  St.  Andrew,  New  Brunswick,  with  other 
Loyalists,  and  continued  there  until  his  decease.  He  was  an 
agent  of  the  British  government  for  settling  and  allotting  lands 
to  adherents  of  the  crown  in  the  Revolution,  the  first  Sheriff 
of  Charlotte  County,  a  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and 
Deputy  Colonial  Treasurer.  He  died  February  24,  1824.  He 
had  a  numerous  family,  but  only  one  son  survived  him.  This 
son,  the  Honorable  Thomas  Wyer,  of  St.  Andrew,  is  a  mem 
ber  of  her  Majesty's  Council,  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas, 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Commissioner  of  Wrecks, 
and  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Militia.  The  wife  of  the  first  Mr. 
Wyer  was  the  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Pote,  a  fellow  Loyalist 
of  Portland,  and  a  settler  of  St.  Andrew.  The  family  account 
is,  that,  the  senior  Wyer  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  but  no  person  of  his  name  is  found  upon  the  cata 
logue. 

WYLLY,  ALEXANDER.  Of  South  Carolina.  In  1782  his  es 
tate  was  amerced  twelve  per  cent. 


730  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

WYLLY,  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL.  A  captain  in  the  King's 
Rangers,  Carolina. 

WYNN,  WILLIAM.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York.  In  1783 
he  retired  to  New  Brunswick,  where  he  remained  nineteen 
years.  He  removed  to  Upper  Canada,  and  died  at  Queenstown 
in  1834. 

YARBOROUGH,  • .  A  captain.  Of  South  Carolina.  Was 

in  commission  under  the  crown  after  the  surrender  of  Charles 
ton.  Estate  confiscated. 

YEAMANS,  JOHN.  Of  Duchess  County,  New  York.  Removed 
to  New  Brunswick  in  1783.  He  was  the  first  member  of  the 
Assembly  returned  from  the  County  of  Queens,  and  held  a 
seat  in  that  body  for  many  years.  At  the  time  of  his  decease, 
he  was  the  presiding  magistrate  of  Queen's  County.  He  died 
in  1824,  aged  eighty-nine  years.  His  son,  Peter  Yeamans, 
Esquire,  is  a  major  of  militia,  and  a  magistrate  of  the  same 
County. 

YORKE,  THOMAS.  His  estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was 
attainted  and  banished.  In  a  memorial  dated  at  London  in 
1794,  he  represented  to  the  British  government,  that  he  had 
not  been  able  to  recover  debts  due  to  him  in  America  at  the 
time  of  his  banishment,  and  he  prayed  for  redress. 

YOUNG,  EPHRAIM.  Was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  St.  An 
drew,  New  Brunswick,  and  lived  there  before  the  erection  of  a 
frame-house  by  any  one.  He  died  at  St.  George,  New  Bruns 
wick,  October,  1841,  aged  eighty-eight.  His  wife,  with  whom 
he  lived  sixty-six  years,  survived  him.  His  descendants  are 
thirteen  children,  one  hundred  and  eight  grandchildren,  one 
hundred  and  forty  great-grandchildren,  and  three  great,  great 
grandchildren. 

YOUNG,  FRANCIS  and  GEORGE.  Went  to  St.  John,  New  Bruns 
wick,  at  the  peace,  and  were  grantees  of  that  city;  the  latter 
died  there  in  1827,  aged  severity-one. 

YOUNG,  GEORGE.  Of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Was  an 
Addresser  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  1780. 

YOUNG,  JOHN.  Residence  unknown.  Was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  King's  American  Regiment. 


OF   AMERICAN    LOYALISTS.  731 

YOUNG,  JOHN.  Of  Philadelphia.  Lost  his  estate  by  confis 
cation  in  1779. 

YOUNG,  WILLIAM.  Of  Pennsylvania.  Settled  in  New  Bruns 
wick,  and  died  at  Carlton  in  1804,  aged  forty-nine,  leaving 
nine  children. 

YOUNG,  WILLIAM.  Of  Rhode  Island.  Was  banished  from 
the  State,  and  was  forbidden  to  return  at  his  peril,  by  act  of 
June,  1783,  after  the  peace. 

YOUNG, .     Of  Little  Lakes,  (now  the  town  of  Warren,) 

New  York.  Founded  a  small  Colony,  which  was  known  as 
Young's  Settlement,  of  which  he  continued  to  be  the  head 
man.  In  1778,  a  party  of  Whigs  plundered  and  burned  his 
habitation  in  retaliation  for  similar  deeds  of  the  Tories,  at  the 
secluded  hamlet  of  Andrus-town,  in  the  vicinity.  This  per 
son,  possibly,  was  Frederic  Young,  Esquire,  who,  in  1775, 
signed  a  Declaration  of  loyalty. 

YOUNGHUSBAND,  GEORGE  and  ROBERT.  Were  grantees  of  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick,  in  1783.  The  first  was  a  member  of 
the  Loyal  Artillery,  in  1795,  and  an  alderman  of  the  city  in 
1803. 

ZABRISKIE,  JOHN.  A  magistrate,  of  New  Jersey.  His  estate 
was  confiscated  during  the  war  ;  and  by  an  act  of  December, 
1783,  it  was  given  to  Major  General  Baron  Steuben,  in  reward 
for  his  services.  John  Zabriskie,  Junior,  Esquire,  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Bergen  County  Committee  of  Correspondence  in 
1774,  as  was  also  Peter  Zabriskie,  Esquire. 

ZEDWITZ,  HERMAN.  A  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Whig  ser 
vice  and  Continental  army.  In  June,  1775,  he  petitioned  the 
New  York  Provincial  Congress  to  be  allowed  to  raise  a  regi 
ment  of  six  hundred  men  in  Pennsylvania.  In  August  of  1776 
he  was  discovered  in  a  correspondence  with  Governor  Tryon, 
of  New  York.  The  object  of  this  correspondence,  it  appeared, 
was  to  obtain  a  large  sum  of  money  to  be  immediately  sent 
him,  on  condition  of  his  giving  the  royal  commander  informa 
tion  of  the  strength  and  situation  of  the  army  of  Congress, 
agreeably  to  a  promise  which  he  had  made  to  Tryon  previous 


732  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

to  his  accepting  the  commission.  He  confessed,  at  his  trial, 
that  he  had  written  to  Try  on,  and  that  the  letter  produced  was 
his;  but  he  averred  that  his  end  was  not  treasonable,  and  that 
his  aim  was  to  draw  from  the  royal  coffers  the  sum  of  £2000 
sterling,  to  reimburse  himself  for  expenditures  in  raising  a  regi 
ment  in  Germany  for  the  Marquis  of  Granby,  which  remained 
unpaid.  His  life  was  saved  by  a  casting  vote.  He  was,  how 
ever,  dismissed  from  the  army,  and  declared  incapable  of  hold 
ing  any  military  office  under  the  United  States.  His  perfidy, 
it  seems,  was  made  known  by  a  German,  who  had  charge  of 
a  communication  to  Governor  Try  on,  but  who  carried  it  im 
mediately  to  Washington. 

ZUBLY,  JOHN  JOACHIM,  D.  D.  He  was  the  first  minister  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Savannah,  Georgia.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  learning,  of  vigorous  and  penetrating  mind.  In 
1775  he  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Georgia 
that  assembled  at  Tondee's  Long  Room,  Savannah,  July  4th  ; 
and  preached  a  sermon  in  his  own  church  before  that  body  on 
the  alarming  state  of  American  affairs,  for  which  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  return  him  the  thanks  of  the  Congress.  He 
appears  to  have  been  an  active  member,  and  to  have  assented  to 
the  measures  which  were  adopted.  On  the  7th  of  July  he  was 
selected  as  one  of  the  delegates  of  Georgia  to  the  Continental 
Congress  at  Philadelphia,  a  fact  which  shows  that  he  possessed 
the  confidence  of  his  associates.  He,  however,  expressed  his 
surprise  at  the  choice,  said  that  he  thought  himself  to  be  an 
improper  person  on  many  accounts,  and  declared  that  he 
would  not  go  unless  he  had  the  approbation  of  his  people; 
whereupon  a  committee  was  appointed  to  request  their  consent. 
In  the  subsequent  proceedings  he  assisted  to  prepare  a  letter 
to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  an  Ad 
dress  to  the  Governor  of  Georgia.  The  task  of  framing  a 
Petition  to  the  King  was  assigned  to  his  individual  pen.  His 
name  is  attached  to  an  appeal  to  the  inhabitants  of  Georgia, 
dated  July  25th,  in  which  it  is  said,  that  "  A  civil  war  in 
America  is  begun.  Several  engagements  have  already  hap 
pened,"  and  at  the  close,  an  earnest  recommendation  is  made 


OF   AMERICAN   LOYALISTS.  733 

for  "  a  steady  perseverance  in  the  cause  of  liberty."  His  con 
gregation  having  given  their  assent  that  he  should  attend  the 
deliberations  at  Philadelphia,  he  declared  his  willingness  to 
undertake  the  duty,  and  returned  his  thanks  for  the  honor 
conferred,  and  the  faith  reposed,  by  his  associates.  He  took 
his  seat  in  the  Continental  Congress  accordingly,  but  was  soon 
detected  in  a  correspondence  with  the  royal  governor  of 
Georgia.  A  copy  of  his  letter  was  obtained,  and  Mr.  Chase,  of 
Maryland,  denounced  him  in  open  Congress  as  a  traitor. 
Doctor  Zubly  denied  the  charge,  and  called  upon  his  accuser 
for  the  proofs.  But  he  did  not  wait  for  the  nature  of  his  offence 
to  be  established,  for  he  immediately  fled.  Mr.  Houston,  one 
of  his  colleagues,  was  directed  to  pursue  him,  and  to  counter 
act  the  evils  to  be  apprehended  from  his  defection.  The 
remainder  of  Doctor  Zubly's  life  was  embittered  in  conse 
quence  of  his  separation  from  his  Whig  friends,  and  he  was 
involved  in  most  unhappy  disputes.  He  died  at  Savannah 
before  the  close  of  hostilities,  in  July  of  1781.  His  prop 
erty  was  forfeited  under  the  confiscation  laws. 


THE    END. 


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